The New Kid
by Legion Fardreamer
Summary: Symbiotes, romance, action, and basically irritating the heck out of everyone who crosses his path. My characters are mine, Marvel's are Marvel's, and I'm too broke to sue. That should do it for the legalese. Now redone in CHAPTERS!
1. Chapter 1

**The New Kid**

By Scott Tettamble

Taylor swung through the tall skyscrapers of New York City, swearing at those who chased him. Why couldn't those jerks bug someone else? It wasn't like he was Cletus Kassady, or anything. He just had one of the damned suits! He wasn't killing anyone, or even doing any crime fighting like Spiderman or Venom. He was just trying to survive. _**I even tried to cooperate with those government guys when they showed up on my doorstep!**_

He was so into his reverie that he almost didn't hear the guy in the green battle suit flying toward him. He felt his second skin's irritation, and the picture of a high school teacher griping at him to pay attention appeared in his mind.

"Yeah, yeah... "

Taylor fired a tendril over to the underside of a ledge across the street. Once he was hanging underneath it, he allowed himself a breather. _**I've been in this town two days, and I hate it already.**__**People are nuts here! No wonder they have so many superheroes based here. They need 'em just to keep this city from going completely belly-up!**_

Once again, his other gave him a reminder to keep his mind on the here and now.

_**Give me a break, will ya? They ain't gonna find us under here**__._

The other reminded him about the amount of heat he was giving off. **That** reminded him of how they were tracking him to begin with.

_**All right! I'm going! Maybe if we head down, we can lose 'em in the crowd. Gimme some cover from the visual scanning.**_

The suit complied by blending in with its surroundings with amazing attention to detail. It made the symbiote virtually invisible. Taylor began crawling down the wall, praying that they didn't find him before they got to the ground. It was dark, being nearly midnight, and once in the crowd, he could hide his heat signature among the other people. Best of all, they wouldn't be able to spot him out of all the other people visually.

Luck was with him. The guy in the suit hadn't come around for another pass yet by the time Taylor got down into the alley, and once he was on the ground, his suit became another set of clothes entirely.

First, Taylor became visible again, which revealed him to be of about medium height and slightly trim build. Taylor spent a lot of time at the pool and practiced Tai Chi, which helped him keep in shape. As the suit slithered away from his head, it revealed his dark red hair, and hazel eyes. His square jaw gave him a somewhat angry look, and he had a two-day growth of beard.

Next, the suit became a blue jeans shirt, a pair of black jeans, a black duster, and a pair of black sneakers. Taylor flipped the collar up, and strode out into the street. As he walked, he remembered what brought him to this city in the first place.

**FLASHBACK**

Taylor was standing over the graves of his parents. He didn't come here often. It didn't hurt so much anymore, but he still didn't like to be reminded. Drake and Diana Stevens were both good people. His father was ex-military, which made him hard to live with sometimes, especially considering Taylor's chosen religion, but Drake was pretty understanding. If his boy said he didn't want to hurt anyone, that was just fine by him. Drake had spent most of his adult life hurting people, and was really quite sick of it.

Diana was also very understanding about it. She was the first one Taylor told when he decided that he was going to be a Wiccan instead of a Methodist. She was perfectly happy with his dislike of causing pain. She was also adamant about teaching him Tai Chi, which she taught to others at a dojo in town. She was very good at it, and she made sure that Taylor was also very good at it. He'd been learning it since he was able to walk. Diana convinced him to continue his training because it made for good meditation. Taylor couldn't disagree with that, so he kept at it. What she didn't tell him was that if someone was going to try to hurt Taylor, she wanted him to be able to hurt them back. She knew her son got picked on constantly in school, and he had come home repeatedly with a bloody nose, or a black eye. She acted disappointed, but was very open later with her husband about how proud she was when, one day in eighth grade, Taylor stood up to a group of bullies who were bothering someone else. Taylor had taken the entire group down, and didn't have a mark to show for it.

From then on, Taylor never came home injured from a fight. Those fights became fewer and fewer when the bullies realized that, while they weren't going to get badly hurt themselves, they weren't going to even land a shot on Taylor. They eventually lost interest.

Taylor was about to turn away from the graves when he heard a whistling sound. It reminded him of the sound of missiles that you always heard on television. He looked up a saw a little speck that came closer and closer to the ground, and finally burrowed into it with a ground-shaking thud.

"What the heck is **this**?"

He went over to inspect this thing which turned out to be not a missile, but a meteorite. It was about the size of a baseball, and as he watched, it cracked open down the center. He peered into the now opened meteorite, and saw a white fluid oozing out of it. Remembering a movie he had seen about a similar incident, and what had happened to the farmer who had wound up being eaten by the entitled creature, Taylor took a step back. Running for the police seemed like a pretty good idea right then, but Taylor never got the chance. His sudden burst of fear attracted the attention of the thing, and it snapped out a tentacle of some kind, gripping Taylor around his neck. It used him as an anchor to pull the rest of itself out of the meteorite, and wrapped itself around Taylor's head. Taylor wanted to shriek, and in the attempt, the creature began to force itself down his throat, up his nostrils, and into every entry into his body it could locate. The combination of fear, and sudden inability to breathe caused Taylor to do the most merciful thing in the world right then and there.

In other words, Taylor Stevens, son of Drake and Diana Stevens, fainted dead away.

**PRESENT**

Taylor looked up just in time to see the guy in the green battle suit fly by overhead. The lights from the street didn't show him all that well, but the sound of those jets in his boots was very distinctive, and the flames from the jets were easy to see in the darkness. The other filled his head with a sense of irritation, but this time directed at the hunters. _**Tell me about it**__,_ he thought bitterly. _**If I'd have just left, and not told anyone where I went, we wouldn't be in this fix. No, I had to be the proud American, and do what my government wanted me to do. I went with those rejects from a bad UFO movie, and what happens? I get put in a little box made entirely of fire and noise, and told I'm going to die for my country, whether I like it or not. And I don't**__. _

He walked for about an hour, listening for the sound of boot jets. When he hadn't heard them for a while, he figured it might be safe enough to take to the high ground again, and maybe find an out of the way place to crash for the night. He turned to his left, going into the darkened alley, looking for all the world like someone who was begging to get mugged. A smile slipped across his lips as he thought about that. _**It might actually be kinda funny to see someone try. Especially considering the fact that all bullets seem to do any more is knock me down. My second skin's pretty good at catching the things.**_

Taylor's other went through it's metamorphosis again, but this time in reverse. His sneakers, pants, shirt, and coat flowed into one another, and turned white. A toothy grin appeared where Taylor's mouth was, and two black eyespots appeared over his own. Taylor knew he could do the seven-foot tongue, as well, just like Venom and Carnage, but didn't see the point. The grin was scary enough. The other grew tendrils, and pulled him up the wall. Once he got to the top, he began to run across the rooftops, leaping across the gaps, some of them at least thirty feet wide. It felt good to be able to move like this.

Taylor realized how little attention he was paying to his surroundings when something barreled into him, knocking him to the gravel. He slid a few feet, and looked up at his attacker.

Spiderman?!

"How did you get loose, Carnage?" the avenging arachnid asked, his voice full of anger and contempt.

_**Oh, great...**_

"Get your eyes checked, pal. I ain't Carnage. He's red and black, with white eyes. I'm white, with black eyes."

Taylor picked himself up off the gravel, and dusted himself off. Neither he, nor his other were very much in the mood for this.

Spiderman tilted his head to the side, and gave Taylor another look. He sounded very confused when he next spoke.

"Venom?"

_**Okay. This is starting to get on my nerves.**_

"Is your hearing defective too, Spiderjerk? I said 'white, with black eyes,' not black, with white eyes and a white spider on my chest. Jeez, man!"

The anger returned to Spiderman's voice. "Then who are you, and where did you get a symbiote?"

"None of your damn business!"

"What did you say?"

"Boy! You really **are** going deaf. I said 'None of your damn business.' Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do."

"What? Like eating people's brains? I don't think so."

"I don't either. Get out of my way."

"What do you mean you don't either?"

Taylor took a deep breath, which caused Spiderman to tense up, like he expected an attack. He then silently counted to ten

"Spiderman, I am being chased by people who know a whole hell of a lot more about the symbiotes than you do. While I was in their care, I learned a lot about them myself. I know what the symbiotes feed on. I also know that eating chocolate causes the body to produce large amounts of phenalethylamine. I eat a lot of chocolate, so I don't get sudden cravings for the internal organs of other living creatures. I don't intend to get caught by those wack-jobs again, so if you'll just get out of my way, I'll see about becoming the most unnoticeable person in the city. Okay?"

"Gee. I guess I owe you an apology then. Maybe I can help. Who's chasing you?"

"Spiderman, I really don't have the time to chat with you. You just go back to whatever it was you were doing before you jumped me, and I'll make like an amoeba. Deal?"

Taylor didn't wait for Spiderman's reply, but promptly leapt over the side of the building, and began swinging away. Spiderman caught up to him, and swinging beside him said "You just keep your nose clean, kid, because I'll be watching you."

"Oh, gee. Assault and battery and now peeping tom charges. You're just rackin' 'em up tonight, aren't you?"

With that, Taylor swung down to street level, and quickly shifted into his duster, denim, and sneakers.

_**What a creep, **_he thought. _**Well, looks like the rooftops are out. Wanna try the subway tunnels?**_The other didn't feel very enthusiastic about this choice, but it seemed to be the only alternative. It formed a picture of his high school librarian, Mrs. Waters, shushing a group of teens that were being rowdy. Taylor got the message.

_**Yes, I'll be looking for somewhere quiet. I need sleep too, you know.**_

Taylor got down into the subways, which were not very busy at the moment. Taylor hoped noone was watching him as he directed his other to cover and cloak him once again. _**Gettin' a workout tonight, aren't we, pal?**_His other voiced one of his own phrases back at him.

_Oh, brother..._

Taylor smirked, and thought back, _**Smart aleck.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**SPIDERMAN'S VIEW**

Spiderman stood on a rooftop, with his cell phone in hand. Mary Jane was on the other end of the line.

"MJ, I just ran into a symbiote tonight."

"Oh, Jeez, Tiger! Are you all right? Who was it? Carnage? I thought he was still locked up."

"He is. I swung by there afterwards, and he's still there. Nobody's escaped from there, either."

"Venom? Isn't he in San Francisco?"

"Yeah, he is. It wasn't either of them. This was somebody new. He isn't one of the one's from the Life Foundation, either. This guy's even younger than I am. If I hadn't been looking right at him when he ran across my field of vision, I wouldn't have even known he was there. He was running across the rooftops when I found him."

"Did he hurt you?"

Peter colored a little under his mask. _Okay, Parker, explain this little goof-up without sounding like a total creep._

"Um, actually, no. He didn't. He didn't even swing on me, and he had good reason to do just that."

"What? What do you mean?"

"Well, I sort of jumped him. It was dark, and I couldn't see very well. I just saw a shadow running across, and when the shadow started growing tentacles, I attacked him. I thought it was Carnage."

"And he didn't hit you back?"

"Nope. Not even a thump on the nose."

"Wow. I wish all your enemies were that forgiving. You could retire."

"You said it. He said he was being chased, though, and by people that know a lot more about the symbiotes than I do. That means either the Life Foundation, or the government. Neither of those choices is very appealing. One the one hand, you've got a bunch of well funded psychos with big guns, and on the other, you've got a bunch of even better funded psychos with even bigger guns."

"You just be careful, Peter. I remember how badly you get beaten up whenever you deal with those things. I like my husband coming home in one piece."

"That makes two of us, sweetheart. I'm gonna make one more circuit of the neighborhood, and then I'm coming home. I don't think this guy is in any mood to fight me, or anyone else for that matter. Otherwise, he would have tried to take a bite out of me."

"Okay, Tiger. See you soon."


	3. Chapter 3

**TAYLOR'S VIEW**

Taylor had bedded down in an area deep in the subway tunnels. The section was blocked off, and the sign looked to be years old, so he figured it had been abandoned, and for quite some time. He didn't come across any homeless people, which was a plus. The ones he saw above ground all stank, and he didn't even want to think about what a whole bunch of them crammed down here would smell like. He was very glad it was summer though. At least he wouldn't freeze down here.

Taylor hadn't been asleep very long when he felt something poke him in the chest. Hard.

_**Oh, great. Some homeless booze hound has decided I'm in his spot, so he's gotta stake his claim, and make me move over.**_

Taylor opened his eyes, and was about to tell the supposed homeless person to go away when he realized what was poking him was not some old booze hound, but a very strange looking mutant.

_**O-kay... This is new.**_

The mutant, an orange skinned and wrinkled looking old man with eyes like a goat's, was prodding him in the chest with a length of pipe.

As Taylor looked around, he saw that the old mutant was not alone. Standing behind him were four others, each with a bizarre looking mutation. The one closest to him was green skinned, and appeared to be made of seaweed. On closer inspection, he deduced that it might be female, but he wasn't really sure.

The next one back was an enormous male, with muscles of inhuman proportion and glowing blue veins bulging from his arms and neck.

The third was also male, and looked like he had been covered in red slime. Then Taylor saw the red slime shift and move the way his other did when it covered him, and thought for a moment that maybe the man had a symbiote. That opinion changed when the man's face, and then his entire body, became a man-sized blob of red slime which then shifted to the form of a red, slime covered pit-bull.

The fourth, Taylor couldn't see very well, being blocked mostly by the other three on top of the fact that it was very dark down there. If it weren't for the fact that his other enhanced his senses, he wouldn't be able to see any of them.

The old man was the first to break the silence.

"What are you doing down here, upworlder? This is Morlock territory."

"Hey! Take it easy. I was just trying to get some sleep, okay? The world above is a little out of bounds for me, right now, and this was the only place I could think of to get some peace. I wasn't botherin' nobody."

Seaweed piped up next. "Your presence here is an insult, human. You bother us just by being here. Go back with the other upworld scum, and leave us Morlocks in peace."

Muscles said "Leave, or else I'll squash you flat."

_**Okay. That's it! I have HAD it with people buggin' me. Threefold law be damned**_

"You're gonna squash me flat, huh? You and what star fleet, pinhead?"

Muscles roared with anger, and charged at Taylor, who stepped aside with fluid grace, letting the muscle-bound giant crash face first into the wall against which Taylor had been sleeping. The cement crunched and crumbled where he hit it.

"Ouch. That could **not** have felt good."

Muscles pulled back out of the wall, and shook himself. He looked slightly stunned, but other than that, he seemed to have suffered no damage.

_**This could pose a problem.**_

Taylor didn't move, letting them make the attack. Goat Eyes swung his pipe on one side, while Seaweed swung a thorny vine whip at him from the other. That was enough to get him moving. Taylor stepped into Goat Eyes' swing, and caught the pipe in his right hand. Turning his back to the old man, he pulled the pipe over his shoulder, and swung it directly into Seaweed's face. It hit with a dull splat and spoiled her aim, but did no other damage. Taylor stood a moment with the pipe gripped in his hand, and then threw it down on the floor of the tunnel. It's resounding clang echoed down the passage, bringing the fight to a dead halt.

Taylor figured it was time to bring this to a halt before someone got hurt. He was about to say what was on his mind when he heard a woman's voice from behind the others. It was the mutant who had stayed in the shadows during the fight.

"Stop. He means us no harm."

Muscles looked to her and rasped, "We should kill him, Kali. He's dangerous."

"So are we. Should we be killed?"

"No, but...-"

"But nothing. We attacked him, not the other way around."

Taylor felt the corner of his mouth turn up in a half-grin/half smirk. "Seems to be my night for it."

"What do you mean?"

"I've already been jumped by Spiderman, and now you guys show up. On top of all that, guys in metal suits have been chasing me all day. It's a wonder I'm not ready for a padded cell yet."

The owner of the voice stepped forward, and much of her lower body became visible. Long, muscular legs, tight stomach, and strong looking arms. _**Wow. Not bad.**_

"Why are you down here, upworlder?"

"It's like I said, lady. I just came down here to get some sleep before I tried to find a better hiding place. The tin suits want my hide, and I ain't quite ready to give it up yet. You know what I mean?"

Kali took another step forward, revealing another set of arms, and a very nicely endowed chest. _**Hmmmm.**_

"I most certainly do. How are you called?"

She took one more step, which brought her into full view. She possessed six arms in all, and had six eyes, completely red with no iris or pupil visible. Her hair was a mane of long, lustrous black waves. Taylor's eyes went wide, and his only thought was_**I said GODDAMN!**_

"Uhhh, ummm, uhhh, gimme a minute here, I'll remember in a second."

_**Nice one, buddy. And while we're trying to remember what the hell our name is, would we also like to cover the short arm salute? We are naked after all.**_

Taylor directed his other to form his denim and duster outfit, and prayed to the gods that this gorgeous mutant woman hadn't seen his interest. Then he offered a short prayer to several goddesses of love that if she **had** seen it, she was interested.

"Taylor. My name is Taylor."

"Well, Taylor. If you truly wish to stay below, I know of a place where you may rest undisturbed."

"Oh, uh, thanks. Kali, right? Um, thanks, Kali."

"You are welcome."

As the Morlocks formed into a line behind her, Taylor wondered for just a moment if maybe she was leading him into a trap of some kind. He hoped she wasn't. _**She seems really nice, and I swear before all the gods, six arms and eyes or not, she is the most drop dead gorgeous woman I've ever seen in my entire life. Cindy Crawford, eat your heart out!**_

The Morlocks kept silent as they traveled. They didn't go far, however, and soon Taylor was being led into what at first seemed to be a large cavern, but turned out to be some kind of underground base. Kali went in, but the others all waited at the entrance.

"How come they're not goin' in? Somethin' wrong?"

"No. They believe that this place is evil. Not surprising, considering the last occupant."

"Who was that?"

"The Green Goblin. This was a base of his. We knew of its construction, but could not stop it. The Goblin's men were well armed, and well trained. We would have been slaughtered without a second thought."

"I guess I can understand that. He the reason you hate upworlders?"

"Not entirely. Upworlders have always found ways to be cruel to mutants, and he was no different than the others."

"Yeah, I guess, but you have to admit. You should have expected it. I mean, he was pretty crazy. Then again, the whole world's pretty nuts. Look at the Friends of Humanity. Have you ever seen some of those guys? I think I saw some of them wearing Nazi uniforms, back when they had that rally in my hometown. I thought the Ku Klux Klan was bad enough, but those guys really give me the creeps. I think it's safe to say the human race has, for the most part, gone off the deep end."

"So it would seem, Taylor. What is it that makes you disagree with your fellow humans? We don't get many non-mutant upworlders down here, let alone ones that see things from our point of view."

"Yeah, well, when you're really unpopular at high school, your friends tend to also be unpopular. In the high school I went to, mutants were about as unpopular as it gets. I got called 'mutie lover' more times than I could count. I got to know a lot of those guys. I thought they were pretty cool. My senior year of high school, about eight of them took off for a school that supposedly could teach them about their powers and stuff. This school was supposed to be in New York. It's a long way from Missouri, but I figure if anybody could make it, they could. Those guys were pretty tough."

"You like mutants?" Kali sounded incredulous.

"That's not what I said. I said my friends were mutants. Personally, I don't care if someone is a mutant, alien, or just a plain old, home grown Homo sapiens. If you treat people right, and don't bully anybody, what's the difference?"

"Taylor, you are naive. Mutants, and especially Morlocks, will always be shunned by humans because we are different."

"No. You'll be shunned because the human race is inherently stupid."

Kali sat for a moment, stunned by Taylor's comment. She had never encountered a human, not even her own mother who had turned her out into the street when her mutation manifested, who seemed to feel as this one did. If she did not know better, she would swear Taylor was a mutant. She was about to say something along those lines to Taylor when she felt Goat Eyes' presence in her mind.

_Yes? What is it?_ she thought tersely.

_The others wish to go. They feel that the human is safe to have down here._

_You've been reading his mind?_

_Yes._

_Does he mean what he says?_

_Yes. He is a normal human, but seems to talk to himself in his mind a lot. More than normal for a human. He may be insane._

_If so, I wish all humans had that kind of insanity. We would never have been driven underground._

_True. He's also mighty attracted to you._

_What?!_

_Here. I'll show you._ He proceeded to show her what Taylor had been thinking, or rather, what Taylor had been fantasizing for much of the conversation. Kali blushed. The boy... No. He was a man, only a year younger than she was, and he was **exceptionally** creative.

_That's enough, Goat Eyes. Thank you. You and the others should return now. I think I'll stay here and talk to Taylor for a while._

_Have fun. With what he was thinking, I don't see how you couldn't._

_Oh, go away!_

She could hear Goat Eyes laughing as they left.

"Taylor?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you mind if I stayed here and talked with you for a while?"

"Can we explore this place while we talk? I wanna check this place over, and make sure Ol' Greenbean didn't leave any little surprises behind."

"Of course. Let's look over there first," she said, placing one left hand on his shoulder, feeling him shiver, and pointing with the three right ones.

"Okay. Sure. Any particular reason?"

Kali smiled, knowing that the sleeping quarters were in that direction.

"No. No reason. Just a feeling."


	4. Chapter 4

**AGENCY'S VIEW**

A man in a well-tailored suit sat behind a mahogany desk, in an office looking out on the Washington Monument. He didn't look very pleased.

"You lost him."

The man he spoke to stood on the opposite side of the desk. He wore a gray, form-fitting body suit that looked like it had circuitry embedded in it. He was tall, with crew cut blonde hair, slightly gray at the sides. His ice blue eyes stared straight ahead at nothing.

"Yes sir. He was able to evade capture through use of the symbiote's chameleon abilities, and sheer cleverness. He hid from the heat scans by going to ground level, and hiding in the crowd."

"Where is he now?"

"We don't know, sir. The search is continuing, as we speak. We have men on the ground, in the air, and even in the river. We should find him very soon, sir."

"You'd better. He's the only one who wasn't experienced enough to kill us all when he got loose. I want him kept that way."

"Actually sir, he wouldn't have killed anyone he came across. Upon coming to the installation, he asked a guard if there were any Wiccans in the place. He is a practicing witch."

"So?"

"Sir, Wiccans are a very nonviolent group. The boy has bought into the delusion he calls Threefold Law. Something about anything you do comes back on you threefold. It's nothing but nonsense, of course, but he believes it. That means he won't fight us unless he feels he has no other choice. By then, it will be too late, and we'll have him. All we need to do is find him, sir."

"All right, then. Find him, and get him back to the lab. Immediately."

"Yes, sir."

**TAYLOR'S VIEW**

Taylor opened his eyes in the darkness, which was absolute. He felt three arms draped over him, and smiled, remembering his companion in the king sized bed. He felt Kali's breath on his back, warm and relaxing. It nearly lulled him back to sleep, but his bladder was telling him he had to get up. He slid out from under Kali's arms as gently as he could and quickly hopped across the cold cement floor to the bathroom. _**I guess the Green Goblin didn't mind cold floors in the morning.**_

He bashed his knees against the toilet seat, and swore softly. He'd completely forgotten that he could sense his surroundings through his symbiote. _**I really gotta get used to you being in me. I'm awful glad you're here, though.**_He felt an answering sense of affection from his other, and smiled. _**So what do you think of Kali? Is she the greatest, or what?**_The symbiote answered with mild confusion. It flashed an image from it's past through his mind. _**Yeah, I know you guys don't mate, but humans do, and you have to admit that Kali is pretty cool.**_The symbiote answered with happy indifference. If Taylor was happy with Kali, then the symbiote was fine. If not, that was okay too.

An image of a candy bar floated temptingly through Taylor's mind. Taylor grinned from ear to ear.

"Okay. Okay. I get the message. Breakfast time. Gimme a second to tell Kali good morning, and we'll go get something to eat."

Kali's voice called out through the darkness.

"Taylor? Who are you talking to?"

Taylor sighed contentedly. He hadn't told Kali about his other, but fully meant to this morning.

"I'm talking to my other skin, Kali."

"Your what?"

Taylor sighed again. "You've heard of Carnage, right?"

"Who hasn't?"

"Well, you know that costume he wears? The one that moves like it's alive?"

"Yes."

"Well, I have one too, only mine isn't crazy. It's telling me it's hungry. You up to breakfast?"

"I suppose. I don't know if this place has a kitchen, though, or food, for that matter."

"Well, I guess we'll just have to wing it."

Taylor turned his speech inward. _**How's about findin' me a light switch?**_The symbiote responded with directional pulling, and reached out a tentacle to flip the switch. Overhead fluorescent lights blinked on, and there sat Kali, a sheet wrapped around her torso, looking lovely. Her hair was disheveled, and she was blinking all six eyes. _**Damn,**_ thought Taylor. _**If I wasn't in love before, I sure am now.**_

"So what's this 'living costume' of yours look like?"

"I'll show you."

He directed the other to cover him, as it did when he was running from the tin suits. Kali gasped when she saw it slither out and cover him from head to toe, sporting that gruesome, toothy grin. Just for the heck of it, he decided to sprout the tongue at a modest two feet in length.

"Until you did that, I wouldn't have recognized you. Now I **know** it 's you, Taylor."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She smirked, and the meaning became clear.

"Never mind," he said, blushing.

The other became his usual denim and duster, and Kali gasped again. "How did you do that?"

"My other can mimic any set of clothes I can think of. This is my favorite outfit."

"Nice, Taylor. Very nice. You look very handsome."

"You ain't so bad yourself, lady," he drawled, looking her up and down.

"Taylor, you are unique among your kind."

He grinned, and brushed his hair back with one hand. "Yeah, well, my other kinda clinches that deal, doesn't it?"

Kali shook her head, and let the sheet fall as she got out of the bed and came over to wrap her four lower arms around Taylor. She placed her upper two hands one on either side of his face. "No, Taylor. Your other is not what makes you unique. What makes you unique is that you search for beauty everywhere you look, even in places where it does not exist, and yet you still find what you were looking for. You think me a beautiful woman when no other person has. My own mother called me hideous, and turned me out into the street. Humans drove me away from the daylight; even the discarded homeless living on the streets above would not accept me. Yet you, with your handsome upworlder looks, and you aren't even a mutant, you invite me into your bed. You call me beautiful. How do you do that? I don't understand."

Taylor leaned up and kissed her in the center of her eyes. "The grace of the gods, maybe. I just know you're the most incredible person I've ever known. That's all there is to it for me. I can't explain it any better than that. To be honest, I don't think I **need** to know why. I just know, and that's all that matters to me."

Kali felt tears sting her eyes, but smiled just the same. She hugged Taylor, and stepped back to retrieve her clothes. "You know, we never did explore this place, did we?"

Taylor watched her dress with raptor-like attention. "No, I guess we didn't. We were a little occupied."

"Shall we begin?"

"Breakfast first. My other's getting insistent."

"What does it want?"

"Well, among other things, it eats phenalethylamine, a chemical in the brain. What I **need** is chocolate. That produces the phenalethylamine in mybrain that my other feeds on."

Kali looked horrified. "You mean that creature is eating your **brain**?!"

"No! No. It's not eating my brain. What it feeds on is a chemical **in** my brain. If I eat a lot of chocolate, it produces enough of the chemical for both my other, and me. Otherwise, I start getting real depressed from lack of the chemical. My other could get it from sources other than me, but that involves killing people. I won't do that, so I eat a lot of chocolate." Taylor smiled. "Offhand, I'd say I'm doing pretty well, except for being chased by my own government. That part kinda sucks."

"Well, go feed your other, then. I need to get back to my tribe, and make sure they're all right."

"You say that like you expect them to have trouble getting back."

Kali fastened the last of the straps on her outfit, which seemed to be nothing **but **strategically placed straps. "I do. If you are going to stay down here, you must understand that these tunnels are a dangerous place. Not just for upworlders, but for us, as well. Some mutants do not join a Morlock tribe. They live on their own, growing feral in their hatred. They start attacking anything that crosses their path, human and mutant alike. There are also remainders of one of the Lizard's experiments down here. Lizard people. Very dangerous, and very territorial. Thankfully, they have no wish to expand that territory. The lizard people are intelligent, but vicious. They are a merciless enemy."

"You've fought with 'em?"

"Yes, we have. They do not like trespassers. The tribe does not venture through their tunnels, unless absolutely necessary. Most times, we do not encounter them, but on occasion, bloody fights have broken out. Those fights are always costly."

Taylor could feel those words pointing somewhere. "What did they cost you?"

"What?"

"You sound like you lost something very precious to you in a fight with them. You don't have to tell me what, but I am curious."

Kali hung her head and sighed. "I am sorry, Taylor, but it is not something I can speak of right now."

"Hey, that's okay. Like I said, you don't have to tell me anything. It ain't really any of my business, and I shouldn't even be askin' anyway. Nothin' to be sorry about."

She gave him a slight smile. "Thank you for that, Taylor."

Taylor clapped his hands together, and said, "Let's eat."

**MORLOCKS' VIEW**

Mack, the leader of the tribe, sat in his throne, thinking about what he had been told the night before. So Kali had found herself a human lover to latch onto. Such a shame. She wasn't going to be very happy when Mack had to kill him, but that didn't matter. Kali was **his**, and that wasn't going to change just because some little worm from upworld thought he could just move in and take over a section of Mack's tunnels. It just wasn't going to happen.

He felt the organic plates slide under his skin. His mutation gave him a form of retractable armor, but the plates slid out of crevices in his skin, which made him appear to be deeply and horribly scarred. Mack was very strong, physically, and had taken over the tribe by force. Not like that tribe uptown, which was ruled by an upworlder. A mutant granted but still an upworlder. _If Callisto were a true leader, she would have simply killed those filthy upworlders, and had done with it._ _What a fool!_

_No,_ thought Mack. _I'll kill the human, and make Kali mine by force, as I should have done before. _


	5. Chapter 5

**KALI'S VIEW**

Kali was absolutely enthralled by Taylor. She still couldn't understand how a human, even one ridden by an alien entity that ate fluid from his brain, could find her beautiful. It mystified her like nothing she had ever known. She hadn't told Taylor that she was a virgin, last night, and she got the impression that it didn't really matter to him. He offered her every pleasure he knew how to give, and he knew quite a bit. She had a pretty good idea of what he wanted from what Goat Eyes showed her of Taylor's fantasies, but couldn't be sure if she was doing any of it right. Even if she didn't, Taylor didn't seem to mind.

The two of them searching together eventually found a small kitchen area, but all the food in the refrigerator had gone bad. Upon opening it, the smell had nearly overwhelmed her. Taylor had slammed the door shut, and promptly started heaving into the sink across the room. "By the gods," he groaned. "I think I saw something moving in there!"

Kali rubbed his back, and tried to comfort him. She had smelled worse in her time, but not much. Apparently, the Green Goblin really liked eggs. The smell of rotten eggs still lingered in the air, but was fading. It was safe to say that there was nothing edible in the kitchen. The cupboards were empty of food, and only held a few dishes. One cabinet held what she thought, at first, was a small pumpkin. It looked ripe, but just as she was about to take a bite, Taylor's other snapped out a tentacle and yanked it out of her hand.

"No! That's not a real pumpkin!"

"What? What do you mean it's not real?"

"Kali, this is the Green Goblin's old lair, remember? That's what you told me, anyway. If that's true, then you don't want to be eating anything that looks like a pumpkin down here."

"Why not? It's food, isn't it?"

"Babe, haven't you seen the news footage of Spiderman fighting the Goblin?"

"Of course. So what?"

"So what was the Green Goblin always throwing at Spiderman?"

Kali thought for a moment, recalling the old photos from newspapers that had washed down into the tunnels.

"Oh my god! He was throwing **pumpkins**!"

"Right." The tentacle turned the pumpkin so that she could see it better. "Look at the top. Looks like an old grenade my dad had. It's got a pin, and everything. If I'm gonna be staying down here, I am **definitely** gonna have to clean out any old weapons he left down here. The pumpkin bombs are going to have to go."

"Agreed. What should we do with them?"

"I dunno. Maybe I can get hold of the Fantastic Four somehow. I'm pretty sure their head guy knows how to get rid of old weapons. I hear he's pretty smart about that stuff. What do you think?"

"Maybe we could give them to the tribe?"

"To the tribe?" Taylor sounded incredulous. "What for? Do any of them know how to disarm these things without setting them off?"

"I don't think so."

"Then the answer is no, honey. These things are too dangerous. For goodness sake, we don't even know what's in these things! They might all have nerve gas in them, or something." Taylor sighed heavily. "No. I'll see if I can get hold of Mr. Richards somehow. He ought to be able to get rid of the things without hurting anyone. That's the best idea I can come up with."

"But these could help my tribe defend themselves!"

"Are you nuts? These are **grenades**, Kali. They blow up! When things blow up underground, 'underground' tends to become 'caved in ground.' Plus, like I said, some of these could contain nerve gas. If I remember those news clips right, the Goblin liked using that stuff. I know what nerve gas can do, sweetheart. You do **not** want that stuff down here. Ever. Even after it settles to the floor, if you walk over that area with bare feet, you're a goner. That stuff works through contact with the skin, it affects the nervous system, and it can be effective for a long time after it's been used. Not to mention the fact that most nerve toxins are deadly, in the extreme. That stuff kills, and it's quick. If you get exposed, you'll die, and it'll hurt worse than anything you've ever felt in your life."

"You sound like you know what you're talking about."

"My dad did. He taught me about that kind of stuff. Bombs and guns. That sort of thing. He used to say that was the reason he got out of the military. Because they weren't interested in making the world safer anymore. They just wanted to find new ways to kill each other. He seemed really sick of it all when he got out."

"What does he do now?"

"My dad's dead. My mom, too. Car wreck, a couple of years ago."

"Oh Taylor, I'm so sorry. Do you miss them very much?"

"Sometimes, but I remember 'em pretty good, and I remember a lot of the stuff they taught me before they died. Kinda makes me feel like they're still around, you know?"

Kali nodded. Even though her mother threw her out, she still missed her from time to time.

Changing the subject, she asked "So what are we going to eat? I don't think the tribe would let you eat with us, even if you were just a normal, every day mutant."

"Oh, thank you **so** much." Taylor quipped, grinning. "And just how many people know about the spinnerets on your back?"

Kali gasped as her hands went automatically to the lower part of her back. Her strap suit covered them well, but she hadn't been wearing it when Taylor had been running his hands all over her. The memory of **that** nearly made her shiver. _God, he knew how to push all the right buttons!_ "Not many."

"Uh-huh. I thought so. Should I be worried about getting eaten now?" He was still grinning.

"That's not funny, Taylor. I've been a mutant for twelve years, and I'm still not used to having those things. They scare me."

"Really? Why?"

"I'm scared that maybe I really **am** some kind of spider. I don't spin webs, or anything, but those things **do** work. And I'm afraid of spiders. I have been ever since I was little. Daddy thought I was just being stupid, but I just thought about that butterfly that got caught in the spider web outside my window when I was a child, back in North Carolina. I remember watching the movie Charlotte's Web with Daddy, and then seeing a butterfly get caught in the web. I thought the spider was going to let it loose, like in the movie, but it didn't. The spider killed the butterfly, and ate it. I never watched that movie again. I thought it was the biggest lie I'd ever heard of. Daddy bought me a tarantula the day after that, and made me keep its cage in my room. I didn't sleep for six whole days, I was so afraid. He used to make me watch while he fed it dead mice. I still have nightmares about that awful thing. Spiders are murderous creatures, and I don't want to be like them."

"Who says you have to be? You don't see Spiderman killing anyone, and he's got more spider powers than you do. I notice you don't climb walls like he does."

"No, but I have real spinnerets, not fake ones like him. I also have eight limbs, just like a spider."

"True, but you're still gorgeous. Kali, self-hatred doesn't do you any good. There are enough people out there who hate you for no good reason whatsoever. You don't have to be one of them."

Kali sighed. "I know, but...-"

"No buts, lady," he interrupted. "Although you **do** have a rather nice one."

She bit her lower lip, blushing.

Taylor checked his watch, which was the only thing he owned that he still had with him. "Uh, just out of curiosity, is it ten AM or PM."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, but if it's nighttime, it'll be a lot easier to get what I need. I've found that it's very easy to break into places when you have a symbiote."

"Break into places? Like where?"

"Like a grocery store."

Kali snorted, and said, "In New York, just about everything is open twenty-four hours a day. This is the city that never sleeps, remember?"

"Give me a break! I've only been in this place a couple of days, and I've been on the run for most of that time. I'm originally from Hannibal, Missouri. The only places that stay open all night out there are a couple of truck stops, and some all night gas stations, one of which I used to work in."

"Oh."

He set the pumpkin bomb down on a counter next to him, and went over to put his arms around Kali. "Why don't you come with me? I can carry you."

"No. I'd like to, but I have to check and make sure my tribe mates are all right."

"Okay. Meet you here, later tonight?" He looked at his watch again in confusion. "Or today, whichever the case may be."

Kali smiled. "Try and stop me."

"Okay. Give me a couple of hours to get the lay of the land and get what we need, and I'll see you then. Maybe **this** time, we'll actually look this place over."

Their combined laughter echoed down the tunnels.

**IN THE UPWORLD**

Taylor had thoroughly enjoyed kissing Kali goodbye. He planned to enjoy kissing her hello, as well, when they met again later. _**By the gods! It sure feels great being in love.**_The other grumbled about being neglected, but Taylor placated it with pictures of the chocolate he was going to get. _**Just relax, pal. We're both going to eat well, if I have anything to say about it. I don't like the idea of stealing from anyone, but I don't have any money. It looks like we don't have a big amount of choices here.**_

Upon reaching the surface, which showed that it was indeed nighttime once again, Taylor found a cop on horseback and asked him for directions to the nearest grocery store, explaining that he was new in town, and was really lost. The officer was extremely helpful, and gave very simple directions to a store that was only a block away from where they now stood.

"Just don't get anything out of the hot case, unless you like getting indigestion."

Taylor smiled up at the man, and thanked him profusely. He headed off in the direction of the grocery store, but turned down an empty alleyway once he was out of sight of the horseback cop. His other slithered over him, and within seconds Taylor was crawling up the side of a building, and running in the direction of the store. He found it easily, and swung down to its roof. Weaving in and out among the air conditioning units, he made his way to the back of the store, where the loading docks were located.

_**Looks like we're in luck. Tonight's the night they get their truck in. This'll be easier than I thought.**_

He watched while several men unloaded the truck, and then, while they were inside, he fired off a line at a case of dried noodles and yanked it up into his arms. Again, he waited, and then fired off another line, this time at a case of canned soup. _**This is going better than I could have dreamed.**_He fired one more time, this time grabbing a whole box of candy bars. _**Hah! Thought I forgot, didn't you? Would I do that to you?**_His other answered by extending tentacles and giving him a hug. Taylor laughed aloud.

"Yeah, yeah. I love you, too. Now let's get out of here before some hero shows up and decides he need to kick the crap out of us."

The other extruded tentacles to pick up their haul, and hugged them tight to Taylor's back, forming into a pouch. Taylor looked in every direction before leaping off of the roof to the wall of a neighboring building. He crawled up the side, and retraced his steps to the alley where he changed back into the denim and duster. His packages were moved to his arms where he carried them down into the subway station. There were quite a few people waiting for a train this time, and Taylor got jostled several times. One man jostled him quite hard, and then grabbed the box of candy bars out of Taylor's arms. Taylor and his other were both livid. "Hey! That's **mine**!" he cried. He shifted his packages under one arm, and began to chase the man. When the snatcher jumped the turnstile, Taylor followed him easily, simply leaping over the obstacle as he ran. He put on some speed, quickly closing the distance between himself and the thief. Once they got into the tunnels, and were both out of sight of the other people, Taylor stopped. He quickly put down his load, suited up, and fired a line at the back of the fleeing man. The tip splatted against the back of the man's shirt, and when Taylor was sure he had hit his mark, he hauled back, hard. The thief, who was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, felt something hit his back wetly, and then was jerked completely off his feet. Taylor pulled on the catch, fully expecting to drag the man all the way back to him. The thief had different ideas, and quickly slipped out of the baggy shirt he wore. He was on his feet in a flash, and running again in another.

Taylor had had quite enough. _**That sucker still has my candy bars!**_He leapt up to the ceiling of the tunnel, and wall-crawled as fast as he could, catching up with the thief once more. He stopped and fired a line at the man's feet, tripping him up, and pulled him up like a wriggling fish on a hook. _**Okay, buddy, you asked for this!**_

Taylor hung from the ceiling by his feet, and once he had the thief pulled all the way up, he looked the man right in the eyes.

"That is **mine**!" he growled.

The effect was instantaneous. The thief shrieked, and immediately wet his pants. Considering he was hanging upside-down, some of it ran down his face, mixing with the man's tears as he sobbed in abject terror. He handed over the box with a whimper, and was summarily dropped to the floor. He missed the third rail by mere inches, but didn't care. He simply picked himself up, and ran for all he was worth. Taylor paid him no attention at all. He was too busy swearing about the box of candy bars being covered in urine.


	6. Chapter 6

**KALI'S VIEW**

When Kali got back into the familiar tunnels of her tribe, she felt some of her elation about her new relationship wither. It seemed that there was something she was missing about it all. She didn't know what, but she knew it was important. As she entered the main chamber, she hailed friends that passed, and then headed towards Goat Eyes' living area. He was just getting out of bed, and Kali couldn't help but laugh.

"You're going to oversleep, and miss your own funeral one of these days, Goat Eyes."

Goat Eyes chuckled warmly as he slipped on a tattered, homespun tunic. "Wouldn't bother me any, girl. I have no desire whatsoever to witness that event. Did you enjoy yourself today? Don't bother telling me no, because I know better. I don't even have to read your mind to see it. I must admit, I'm a little surprised at you. Letting yourself fall in love with a normal human. He's not going to stay down here, you know."

Kali frowned suspiciously. "What do you mean?"

"Mack's gonna oust him out."

"Oh god! You told Mack?! Goat Eyes!"

"Hey! Simmer down, all right? I didn't say a damn word, one way or the other. Mack wormed it out of Kelpie. You know how she fawns over him. She'd tell him the Colonel's secret recipe if she thought it would make him like her."

"Great. Just great! As if the poor guy didn't have enough problems, as it is! Now he gets this."

"What's that supposed to mean? Somethin' wrong with him?"

"The government is hunting for him. He lost them in a crowd above ground, and was trying to hide down here. You read his mind, so you should know this already!"

"Yeah. As a matter of fact, I did. I just didn't expect him to tell **you**. He's just fulla surprises."

Kali colored a little. "I'll say."

Goat Eyes looked slyly at her, and smirked. "I won't ask what **that** meant. I already know. I still can't believe you let him be your first, but I guess I can't blame you. He seems like a pretty good kid." He snapped his fingers. "Which reminds me. Did you find out why he talked to himself so much?"

"Yes, I did. He's not talking to **himself** at all. He has an alien living inside him. He told me a little about it before I left. It can do all kinds of things. That's what he was talking to."

"Well, that explains things a mite. Kelpie said he hit her a lot harder than he should have been able to. I'm guessing this thing makes him stronger?"

"Yes. He said it's just like the costume that Carnage has, only his isn't crazy."

"Well, now. Ain't that somethin'. So that's why the government boys are after him? The suit? I never reckoned on that costume of Carnage's bein' some kinda alien."

"Yes, well, like you said, he's full of surprises."

"He's gonna need to be, if Mack has anything to say about it. He wants to kill the kid."

"What?!"

"That ain't all of it, either. You'll be wantin' to stay on your toes too, kiddo. Mack wants you, and he ain't too particular about how he takes you anymore. He's figurin' on just takin' what he wants, and whatever you want be damned."

Kali closed her eyes in frustration and disgust. "Damn him. I finally find someone who really loves me, and Mack wants to screw it all up."

"Yeah, he's a real prince among men. Look, I know you want be with this kid, but with Mack bein' in the mix, I just don't see how this is all gonna work out for the good. I mean, unless he wants to kill Mack, and I just don't see that happenin'. He just ain't the type."

Kali had her four lower arms crossed over her middle, and her upper-most left arm across her chest. Her top right hand was on her chin, an action usually showing up when she was thinking. "I'll tell him you said that,"she said distractedly.

Goat Eyes frowned, and entered her mind. _Kali, you ain't plannin' on doin' somethin' stupid, are you?_

Kali scowled at him. "Never mind that now. I have to get back to him. Warn him about Mack." Her expression softened. "My friend, if he leaves, I'll probably leave with him, if he asks me. If that happens, I want to tell you goodbye. I'll miss you, Goat Eyes."

Goat Eyes' expression was one of surprise. "You like the kid that much? What am I askin' for? Of course you do! Well, if that's the case, then I guess I got only one thing to say to you." He took a deep breath. "Ya got room in that plan for one more?"

Kali's eyes widened in shock. "Huh?"

"Look, kid. I don't wanna butt in on ya, or nothin', but the truth is this. You are closest thing I got to a family of any kind. I ain't never had no young'uns of my own, but you probably come as close to it as I'll ever get. If you think you can stand to have me around, I'd kinda like to tag along."

Kali's eyes were full of tears as she hugged the old mutant tight, and said, "Are you kidding? Of **course** you can come with us! I just know Taylor would love for you to come along."

Goat Eyes pulled himself out of the young woman's happy embrace. "Hey now! Slow down there, kid. You're getting ahead of yourself again. He ain't even decided to leave yet. Remember, he was willing to fight a bunch of us just for a place to sleep out in the wild tunnels. He may be willing to fight Mack for his new place. This could get real ugly, Kali. Believe me, it could get **real** ugly."

**TAYLOR'S VIEW**

Taylor got back to his new home swearing vehemently. He went into the kitchen, and put his groceries onto a convenient counter. The only thing he was missing was the box of candy bars that the thief had urinated on. That he had left where it lay.

_**Friggin' idiot. We should have chased after his sorry hide.**_

His other growled it's own irritation at the thief in his mind.

_**Yeah, yeah, I know. I had a craving for chocolate, too. Why don't we get on that big computer in the other room and see if we can contact some of the guys. I haven't checked my e-mail in quite a while. It's probably packed solid with junk mail.**_

He went into the main room after fixing himself a bowl of ramen noodles, and sat down in front of the enormous screen. Searching the keyboard, he found the power switch and flipped it to the "on" position. What appeared on the screen was an image of the Green Goblin, asking for a password. Taylor grinned. Some people just never learned. He looked around for a mouse pad, and found what appeared to be a laser pointer attached to the computer console.

_**Well, well, well. Aren't we the high tech little cuss? I could get to like this thing.**_

He aimed it at the screen, and clicked the button. The password prompt vanished from the screen, bringing up a Windows type desktop screen._**Yes! Just as I'd hoped. Now I can change everything to MY specifications. Let's see, now...**_

He went through the menu, and began clicking. After about four minutes, Taylor was grinning even more widely than before. He had altered the password to one of his own devising, found out how to open and close the main door, and even found and destroyed several major files that could have been used to blackmail certain important corporate types.

And, of course, Taylor had read them all. One he found of particular interest, however, had nothing to do with any type of corporate espionage.

It had to do with Spiderman.

Taylor read the file for the better part of an hour, and in the process, learned a great deal about the man who spent his days slinging webs at bad guys. Spiderman's real identity, his strengths, weaknesses, relatives, and everything else the Goblin had on him. It made for some interesting, if slightly disturbing, reading.

_**All right, webhead, you'd better appreciate what I'm about to do.**_

Taylor looked into the area beside the computer, and picked up a blank disk. After downloading the file, he deleted it from the system. He removed the disk, and looked at it. An idea crossed his mind, and his grin returned, full force.

Taylor started to go to his e-mail address, but suddenly realized that they might be monitoring it. His hands flew over the keyboard as he called up his provider's homepage, and registered under a new address. He hated to do it, because it meant that any e-mail he had was gone. He wouldn't be able to access it without alerting someone. His first letter was to an old friend of his from high school, a young man by the name of Daryl Wilson. They had many interests in common, one of which was the movie The Outsiders, by S. E. Hinton. As such, they wound up calling each other by names from the movie. Taylor wound up being called "Pony-boy" and, naturally, Daryl took the name "Darry."

Daryl ran a chat room now, and made quite a bit of money from other interests on the net, as well. He spent most of his time in the chat room, and was known to be a personable, if slightly odd, character on the net. Taylor logged on, and checked the current occupant log, hoping that Daryl was in. His heart leaped when he saw that Daryl was indeed online. He began typing.

_"Yo, Darry! Gotta chat, man."_

_"Pony! Where the hell ya been, man? I ain't seen you for weeks. Was starting to worry about my little bro."_

Taylor smiled. It was their little joke. Taylor was actually a year and a half older than Daryl.

_"I was taking an unwilling vacation. I got a new suit shortly after you last saw me. The kind that does stuff."_

_"Huh?"_

_"You've heard of Venom, right?"_

_"Yeah. Homicidal loony, for a while, and then he joined the side of the battering angels."_

_"Yeah. Well, you know that costume he wears?"_

_"Yeah. It's supposed to be alive, or something, ain't it?"_

_"It IS alive. I got one that's like it."_

_"What?! You serious?"_

_"As a heart attack, bud."_

_"Dude! That is SERIOUSLY cool!"_

_"Yeah. Well, the boys of bad suits and sunglasses decided I needed a vacation. I went along for the ride, at first, but when the words 'removal of offspring' and 'test to destruction' started cropping up in those reports I wasn't supposed to see, I said it was time for me and my other to bail."_

_"Don't blame you. You pick out a superhero-type name yet?"_

_"No way, Darry! You ever see how bad some of those heroes get the crap kicked out of them? I'm better off staying out of it."_

_"You got a point, there. You gonna keep in touch? I wanna hear how this turns out."_

_"Please! Would I keep my big brother hanging? You gonna be here tomorrow?"_

_"Yup. I got a lot of ladies that wanna chat with me!"_

Taylor snorted derisively. His friend was a good buddy, but his ability to hold five different conversations at once with five different women was absolutely unreal. It was amazing that he hadn't been caught at it yet.

_"Yeah, yeah. I know. I'll get back to ya then. I sorta got a girlfriend now, and I wanna talk it over with you."_

_"YOU have a GIRLFRIEND? This is the absolute end of it all! Do you realize how many girls in school thought you were gay?"_

_"No, and I don't think I want to, either. Being a gentleman was out of style then, I guess."_

_"Still is, bud. You are the last of a dying breed."_

_"I know it. I'll talk at ya later, bro."_

_"Later."_

Taylor logged of with a sigh of relief. He'd wanted to talk to his friend for some time, but had been forbidden outside contact while in government custody. After he escaped, he simply lacked the time and the means to communicate with Daryl. Now he had both.

He stretched, yawned, and felt joints in his back pop. It was time to get down to the rest of his little chores for the day. He still had to track down Peter Parker, and the best place to do that would be the Daily Bugle. His other slithered across him, encasing him in white, and he gathered up all the pumpkin bombs he could find. He started to close the door, and then remembered that Kali wouldn't know how to open it, so he left it open. He figured it ought to be safe enough. Kali had said that the other Morlocks wouldn't come in here. He hoped she was right.

Taylor still had trouble believing that she shared his feelings for her. He didn't even know why he felt so strongly about her. Maybe it was hormones, or something. _**You know better than that, buddy. You LOVE her. Admit it. It feels pretty great, doesn't it? So why are you questioning it?**_

Taylor knew that his little inner debate team was about to go to war on this issue. He could feel each side gearing up to do bloody battle in his head.

_Because she looks so different. She's got SIX arms, SIX eyes, and spinnerets like a damned spider! She's not HUMAN!_

_**Yes, she is. She is a MUTATED human, but she's still human. And you love her.**_

_She looks so freakish._

_**She looks different, and when you bring out your other, you don't look human, either. What's your problem?**_

Taylor had to think about that for a moment. He didn't come up with anything.

_You're right. I don't have one blessed thing to complain about. She's gorgeous, regardless of her mutation, and she's a good person inside. I can feel that. _

Taylor's other flashed a picture of Spiderman in his mind.

"All right, I'm going!"

**AGENCY'S VIEW**

To say that the man behind the desk was angry would the grossest of understatements.

He was **way** beyond angry.

He was **pissed**.

"Why have you not followed my instructions, Yeager? They were simple enough. Bring that boy back here, and continue the research of the alien creature."

Yeager, no longer wearing the circuitry suit that allowed him to control his armor, was dressed in a blue button-down shirt, gray slacks, and a black tie that had been loosened at the neck. He needed a shave, and looked like he hadn't slept the night before.

"I understand that, sir. We are searching 'round the clock, and have people monitoring his net connections. He has several friends that he will try to contact, if he can."

"Alright, then I just have one question for you. Exactly how did he manage to escape from your crack team of experts? Please explain that to me. I seem to have missed the part of his file that mentioned he was better trained, and more competent than a United States Special Ops team."

Yeager's throat clicked as he swallowed dryly. "Sir, the creature gives him abilities that put him a step ahead of anything human. By bonding with the creature, the boy is for all intents and purposes an alien hybrid. I'm sure you've seen the security tapes of his escape. His skill in Tai Chi is quite impressive, and with the creature's help, he was able to do things that the men simply aren't trained to deal with."

"Yeager, do I look like a man who wants to listen to excuses?"

Yeager gulped again. "No, sir."

"Then find that boy, and bring him back here. I want that creature, and I **will** have it!"

"Yes, sir."

Yeager did an abrupt about face, and marched out. He didn't hear the other man's words as he left.

"I **will** be joined to a symbiote."

**TAYLOR'S VIEW**

Taylor wall-crawled up the side of the Daily Bugle building, listening for boot jets as he did so. He hoped Parker would show up. Taylor felt vulnerable out in the open, and wanted to get back underground as quickly as he could. He shifted the web sack of pumpkin bombs to his left shoulder, and continued his climb.

When he got to the top, he saw a young man with mousy brown hair standing with his back to him. He hauled himself up and over the edge of the roof, and cleared his throat loudly. Parker whirled around as if Taylor had fired a gun in the air behind him.

"Alright," said Parker. "Since you know my secret identity, you must want something. What is it?"

Taylor morphed the suit into his denim and duster, and set the web sack down at his feet. He reached into the right pocket of his duster, and pulled out the disk he'd saved the file about Spiderman on.

"I wanted to give you this. It's everything that the Green Goblin had on you in his computer. I've deleted the files from the mainframe, and this is the only copy of it."

He handed the disk to Parker, who wore a look of downright shock.

"How did you get this? Why are you giving it to me?"

"I moved into one of old Greenbean's hideouts. He wasn't using it, and after I left, I don't think he'll ever be able to." Parker saw a slight smile cross Taylor's face. "His palm print doesn't open the door anymore."

"Okay. That answers the how, but why is still out there."

"Why? Because it was the right thing to do."

Parker seemed to mull that over for a moment. Finally, he smiled wryly.

"It looks like I owe you one. I don't know how to thank you for this."

"Let me call in that favor."

"Huh? Uh, sure. What can I do?"

"Get me in to see Reed Richards."

"Reed? Why?"

Taylor picked up the web sack at his feet and opened it for Parker to see.

"Good Lord! Please tell me those aren't what they look like!"

"Well, okay, but I'd be lying."

"How many bombs are in that bag?"

"About fifty, and this ain't all of 'em, either. My lady friend almost took a bite out of one before I realized what it was. There's a cabinet in my kitchen that is packed full of the gods-be-damned things, and I want 'em out of there. I figured that maybe the smartest guy in the world ought to be able to defuse the things without any trouble. I just don't want anybody gettin' hurt with these."

"Well, lord knows enough people **have** been hurt with these. I'd hoped I had seen the last of these when I last fought with the Hobgoblin."

Taylor smirked. "Look at it this way. You can help me make sure he doesn't get his mitts on **these**. Whatta ya say? You wanna help me get rid of these things for good?"

"Absolutely. Gimme a second to call Reed, and change into costume, and we'll be outta here."

"Great. The sooner, the better, because those guys in the tin suits are still on my trail, I think, and I **really** don't wanna be here if they decide to show up."

Parker punched numbers into his cell phone, and waited. After three rings, a woman's sleepy voice answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Sue? Is Reed there?"

"He's in the lab. Who is this?"

"It's your friendly, neighborhood type friend. I have a friend here that needs to talk to Reed pretty badly."

Sue Richards of the Fantastic Four sighed.

"Alright. Come on up. When you see my husband, would you remind him that he has a wife who would like to see him, out of uniform, when he's finished playing with his toys? Oh, and before I forget, you owe Johnny twenty dollars."

"Huh? What for?"

"He said you two had some kind of bet going on that last trip off-world we took. He didn't get specific. He just said you owe him twenty bucks."

"Okay. Tell him it will be in the usual spot tomorrow morning."

"Sure. Just what was it that you boys bet on, anyway?"

"Oh, it wasn't anything important. Just a guy thing. You know how we boys get."

"Do I ever! Well, you take care of yourself."

"I will. You do the same."

Just before she hung up, he heard her mutter "Men" under her breath. He chuckled sympathetically. If she knew what he and Johnny had been betting on, she'd be frisking Johnny before every flight. Peter never expected to lose that bet with Johnny Storm, Sue's brother and the member of the group known as the Human Torch. They had bet on how many times Reed would say something corny on the trip out. Peter had said more than ten times, and Johnny had said less. Knowing Reed the way he did, it was something of a record. Johnny had snuck a micro cassette recorder in the ship when they left. Peter knew that when he checked "the usual spot" tomorrow afternoon. He would find a mini cassette recording of everything that was said on that trip.

Peter closed his phone, and put it away. As he changed into costume, he asked Taylor a question that had been on his mind since the two had met.

"So, just for the sake of curiosity, how on earth did you get a symbiote anyway? I thought that Venom, Carnage, and those offspring that the Life Foundation had created from Venom's other were the only ones on Earth. As I understood it, Venom couldn't have any other 'children.'"

"You're right about that. All the offspring of his symbiote were forcefully removed using a combination of sonics and magnetics. According to the reports, anyway. Mine didn't come from any of those sources. Mine came from the original home world. When Galactus destroyed it, my other was trapped on a piece of debris from the planet, and subsequently frozen into stasis. It was not a pleasant trip. Over time, dust and ice formed a coating around the rock that housed my other. When it hit the atmosphere of Earth, and mind you, I'm going on a lot of guesswork and basic research of the other symbiotes physical data, the meteorite's coating of ice and rock protected the symbiote enough to allow it to survive the landing. Its landing site was the graveyard where my parents are buried. I was the only person there at the time, and my other needed a host to survive in this planet's atmosphere. Once I woke up from the bonding and realized what had happened, I wasn't really bothered by it. I'd been kinda lonely anyway. My other explained quite a bit about the process to me, in it's own way, of course. I understand you're familiar with how the symbiotes communicate with their hosts, so I guess you know what I mean."

"I just don't understand how you could actually **like** being a host to one of those parasites."

"I'm not."

Peter started at that. "What do you mean? You said you were bonded to it."

"I am. You said I was bonded to a parasite, and I'm not. The creature is called a symbiote for a reason, and that reason is that it lives in symbiosis with its host. As anyone who knows anything about biology can tell you, symbiosis, and parasitic infestation are two very different things. I remember seeing footage of you fighting with one of the other symbiotes, I don't remember which one it was, and saying that noone can control the symbiotes. That's a very true statement. Would you like to know why?"

"I just **have **to hear this."

"You can't control the symbiotes because you're not **supposed **to."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Look, pretty much the entire purpose of the symbiotes is survival. Why would a creature that lives in symbiosis with its host **need** to be controlled? It just doesn't make sense."

Peter finished pulling his mask on, leaving Spiderman where Peter Parker once stood. "It makes perfect sense if the creature decides it wants to take over your mind."

Taylor snorted. "You've been watching too much science fiction. Why would it want to take you over? It has all it wants, just by being bonded to you. It has food, a home, and someone for a constant companion. It has absolutely no desire whatsoever to take over anything. The only reason it might try to control your actions at all would be to preserve the life of itself and it's host. I understand that the Venom and Carnage symbiotes have behaved in ways different than what I've described, but I've got that covered. You see, those symbiotes are crazy. In Venom's case, it was driven crazy by the pain inflicted on it by it's starvation, removal, and rejection by you. I hate to say it, but part of the reason Venom is so crazy is your fault. In the case of Carnage, the host was so crazy that he drove his symbiote crazy too. I feel sorry for the poor thing. If it hadn't bonded with Kletus Kassidy, it probably would have been fine. You have to understand that the symbiotes absorb personality traits from their hosts. Take me, for example. I tend to be a bit gripy and sarcastic, so naturally my other is too. It gets it from me, and to be honest, I wouldn't have it any other way. I love being bonded. It's like getting a best friend that you can't ever lose. The powers are a pretty big bonus too. I can't fire off projectiles like Carnage can, though. I heard that's actually a mutation in the symbiote, but I don't know for sure. I don't mind not having it, though. Seems to me that it's only good for hurting people anyway. I have better things to do with my time."

"So it would seem. You ready to go?"

Taylor suited up, and resealed the web sack. "Let's rock and roll."

Together, they swung off into the night towards the Four Freedoms Plaza.


	7. Chapter 7

**REED'S VIEW**

Reed sat at a console, seemingly punching keys at random. This equation was beginning to irritate him. _Blasted Nth dimensional physics! They never come out the way they're supposed to. It's like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle with all the pieces being from different puzzles!_

He almost ignored the buzz from the intercom, but didn't because he knew the only one who'd page him at this hour would be Susan. He flipped a toggle switch.

"Yes, Susan? What is it?"

Sue's tired sounding voice came over the line. She must have just awakened.

"I just wanted to let you know that Spiderman's coming over with a friend of his. He says he needs your help."

"Spiderman? I wonder what he wants."

"I don't know. Just don't be up playing with your friends for too long, dear. You promised Franklin you'd take him to the park tomorrow."

"Yes, I remember. You get some rest, Sue. I'll see you in a little while."

He toggled off the intercom, and sat back in his chair, sighing at his dilemma. _One of these days, I need to just go off on a scientific sabbatical. It's the only way I'll get any peace and quiet to do my research. I wonder if the Shi'ar have any uninhabited planets they could loan me for a month or two._

He went up to the roof to meet Spiderman and this "friend" he was bringing over. He wondered who it could be. Black Cat, maybe? He couldn't be sure. Spiderman had made many allies, as well as enemies, over the years that they had known each other.

Reed searched the skyline until he saw what he was waiting for. Two figures came webswinging up to the building. _Wait a moment! Two? What's going on here?_

Spiderman and Taylor made their way onto the roof, and greeted Reed. Peter shook his hand.

"Thanks for meeting us, Reed."

"Anytime, Spiderman. Who's your friend?"

Taylor directed his other to form his street clothes, and stuck his hand out.

"Hi. Nice to meet you, Mr. Richards. My name's Taylor Stevens."

"A pleasure to meet you, young man. You are the only one I've ever seen with a symbiote who hasn't tried to take off Spiderman's head. I'm assuming that is the nature of your visit here. The symbiote?"

"You assume wrong, this time, Reed," said Spiderman. "We're here because we need you to help with the disposal of some weapons. Taylor found a pile of the Green Goblin's pumpkin bombs, and we need your help to get rid of them. The police aren't geared to deal with this type of weapon, otherwise we'd be talking to the NYPD bomb squad."

Reed arched his eyebrows, and then nodded his head.

"It was a good idea to bring them here. Come downstairs to my lab. I think I can help you."

**TAYLOR'S VIEW**

On the way down to the lab, Taylor filled Reed in on how he got the symbiote, what happened afterward with the government. His explanation stopped the moment they entered the lab.

"Wow."

Spiderman was grinning under his mask. "Yeah. That was my first reaction to this place too."

"You could fit half of the high school I went to in here."

"Yeah, you probably could."

Taylor noticed a strange pulsed beeping sound. Spiderman saw that his attention had wandered, and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, man. Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm all right. I was just listening to that beeping sound."

"Reed's got a lot of stuff that makes noise in here."

"Yeah, I guess so, but this sounds kinda familiar. Like a song I heard once."

"You're kidding, right?"

"No. Listen to it for a second."

Together they listened to the sound for a moment, and then it dawned on Taylor what the song was that he was thinking of. He began to sing it out loud, in time with the beeping.

"_Sometimes I feel I've got to_

_Run away _

_I've got to _

_Get away_

_ From the pain that you drive into the heart of me _

_The love we share_

_Seems to go nowhere_

_And I've lost my light_

_For I toss and turn I can't sleep at night_

_Once I ran to you_

_Now I run from you_

_This tainted love you given_

_I gave you all a boy could give _

_Take my tears but that's nearly all_

_Oh... Tainted love_

_Tainted Love..."_

Spiderman burst out laughing, and Taylor felt a grin plastered across his own face.

"I knew I'd heard that stuff somewhere."

"Not bad at all, Taylor."

Both of them turned at Reed's comment.

"I'm ready to start when you are. Just set the sack on the spectrographic analyzer pad, and we'll be able to figure out what's in these things and how to get rid of them."

Taylor did as he was told, and stepped over to stand behind Reed and Spiderman. When the analysis came up on the screen, Reed gasped, and Taylor whispered "By the Gods..."

Spiderman turned to Taylor and Reed.

"What's wrong? What is that stuff? I've never come across that particular combination of elements before."

"I pray you never do, Spiderman. Our young friend here has brought a nightmare to us."

"What?!"

Taylor shuddered, and wrapped his arms about himself as if he were cold before he spoke.

"It's a chemical that was developed during the Second World War by the Nazis. It was never used, thank the gods, because of attacks by the British. Where the hell did the Goblin get the formula for this stuff?"

"What is it?" Spiderman was starting to get a little worried.

"It's a combination of paralytic and necrotic toxins. It's based on spider venom, but it's a thousand times more potent. This stuff not only stops you in your tracks; it eats away at your flesh. Imagine being unable to move, and at the same time, feeling your flesh rot right off the bone while you watch. Like Mr. Richards said, this stuff is a nightmare."

Spiderman felt his stomach drop to the floor.

"How many of those things did you say were in that bag?"

"About fifty or so. I've got a bunch more at home too."

"Reed, I think maybe we'd better call S.A.F.E. in on this one."

"I think your right, Spiderman. I don't have the facilities here to destroy that many of these devices."

"Mr. Richards? I don't want to sound ungrateful or anything, but should I be worried here? I mean, I fixed it so Green Goblin can't get in the place anymore, and I wiped his mainframe down to the bare bones, but if S.A.F.E. goes in, I'm going to lose my new place anyway. Not to mention the fact that the government is already after me. If they find me, they're going to kill me trying to figure out how my symbiote works. They nearly did it once already, and I have no intention of letting them get another chance."

"That's quite understandable, Taylor, but we really don't have a choice here. That lair has to be cleaned out of weapons. This may be the only chance we get. I can tell you this, however. S.A.F.E. does have a reputation for discretion if the right agent is contacted."

Taylor started getting suspicious. "In return for what? I've already been used as a lab rat, and they already seized my house and bank account. I have absolutely nothing left to give up, except my freedom and my life. I'll fight to keep those, and Threefold Law be damned!"

Reed and Spiderman shared a look, and Reed had a slight smile on his face.

"Don't worry, Taylor. Noone's going to take your new home from you, and I will make sure the government leaves you alone. You have my word on that."

Taylor looked almost as worried as he felt, but he trusted Reed Richards. He stuck his hand out.

"Your hand on it, then?"

Reed looked a bit surprised, but shook his hand.

"Okay. Let me give you my e-mail address, as I have no clue what my phone number is yet. Let me know when they're coming so I can let them in. The door is opened by a handprint sensor, and right now my handprint is the only one it accepts."

After finding a pen and paper, Taylor wrote down the address.

"I've got to get back. I have a lovely young lady meeting me for dinner tonight, and I don't want to keep her waiting."

Spiderman and Reed both stared. They simultaneously said, "You're joking."

Taylor looked back and forth between the two men, and then said "What?! I'm not allowed to have a girlfriend?"

Spiderman shook his head, and said "Oh, I've just got to hear this." Reed simply continued to stare incredulously.

Taylor blinked in surprise, but relented.

"Well, her name is Kali, she's a Morlock with six arms, six pretty red eyes, long hair, legs like a dancer, and a voice like an angel."

Peter was glad he was wearing a mask. The distaste he felt would have been obvious to anyone who could see his face. Taylor probably wouldn't have noticed anyway. His eyes had glazed over, and he was wearing a goofy smile.

"You're dating a Morlock? Why?"

The smile on Taylor's face was replaced with a smirk that didn't reach his eyes.

"Why not? You got something against mutants?"

Peter mentally smacked himself. _I think I just made his shit list. Think fast, Parker!_

"Uh, no! Not at all. I just- Well, you don't hear that much about Morlocks dating, is all."

Taylor shrugged, but Peter could see that the young man was angry.

"Maybe if people could just stop being assholes about the whole humans versus mutants issue, things would change. I don't see a problem, myself. I just see a pretty and intelligent young woman who's as crazy about me as I am about her. Anything else is just spice in the soup."

Deciding not to put his foot in his mouth again, Peter mirrored Taylor's shrug, and said "It's not really a subject I know much about. Charles Xavier's the local expert on mutants. It just kind of caught me by surprise that you'd have found a girlfriend after having only been in the city a couple of days. That's all."

Taylor stared into Spiderman's eyes for a second or two, and then shrugged again, seemingly content to let the issue go. Seeing the hostility bleed out of the young man's eyes caused Peter to release the tension that was building in his neck and shoulders. For some reason, the thought of fighting with Taylor scared the hell out of him, but for the life of him, he could not figure out why.

"Well," Taylor said as his symbiote slithered over him. "I'm off. It was nice meeting you, Mr. Richards. I really appreciate you helping me out like this. If I find anything else, do you want me to bring it here?"

Reed reached into a pocket, and pulled out a business card with the Fantastic Four logo on it. He handed it to the symbiote, and said "If you find anything else, call this number. I can be reached anywhere in the world with this. If I'm offworld, you can leave a message for me."

"Cool. Well, I'm outta here. Later, guys."

As Taylor swung away from the building, Reed turned to Spiderman.

"How much does he know about that creature he's wearing?"

"From what he said to me before we came here, one heck of a lot more than I do. It was educational. Unfortunately, what he knows about the symbiotes is what he learned while he was in the government's custody. You know what that means."

"Yes. He said earlier that they were after him. It's not them that concerns me. I'm more worried about what would happen if they caught him. What do you think he would do if he were backed into a corner and forced to fight? Do you think he'd react in a similar fashion to Venom or Carnage?"

Spiderman shook his head.

"No, I don't. I don't think he'd even fight until he felt he had no other choice. He doesn't strike me as being violent."

"I hear a 'but' coming."

"But I wouldn't want to be in the shoes of anyone who was dumb enough to corner him. I think he's been on the run for too long. He came to New York to go to ground. He's tired of running. Do the math."

Reed scowled as he turned it over in his mind.

"He seems nice enough, but I must admit that the idea of leaving him to his own devices with an alien predator bonded to his nervous system does not enhance my calm."

"I'll keep an eye on him, Reed. If it turns out he can be trusted, no problem, but just in case, you might want to break out the sonic cannon."

Taylor sighed, and peeled himself away from the wall where he'd had the symbiote hide him. He shook his head, and made his way back up the stairs to the roof. As he swung away from the building, he thought to himself _**On the run for too long? **_**That's**_** for damn sure!**_

**AGENCY'S VIEW**

Yeager had been awake for nearly twenty-two hours straight, and the night didn't look like it was going to get any shorter. He'd been in his suit, flying search patterns over the city, trying to find that damned Stevens boy. The boss was getting impatient, and when the boss got impatient, people got things moving, or people's careers ended. Even though Yeager's vision was bleary and he was nearly falling asleep, when his alarms went off, he snapped into full wakefulness. His thermal sensors were tracking the boy as he left Four Freedoms plaza. He alerted his team, and waited for them to converge on his position.

They'd bag him this time. No doubt about it.

**TAYLOR'S VIEW**

Taylor nearly choked on his own tongue when he heard the sound of multiple jets. He landed on the nearest rooftop, and scanned the area. It only took him a moment to realize that he was surrounded.

"Well, this night just keeps getting better and better."

_It can, if you let me help you._

Taylor froze upon hearing the voice in his head.

_I can get us out of this, Taylor. Just give me a chance._

Taylor's decision was made in the span of two long breaths.

"Let's do it."

Breaking from cover, he launched himself at the lead pursuer. Firing off two web lines at the shoulders, he used the armored man as an anchor to swing around and down towards the street. Halfway through the fall, Taylor felt a rippling at his back. His fall slowed, and began to move forward instead of down. The sound of small turbines followed, and he angled himself towards the street. Upon landing, the glider wings were reabsorbed, and he began to run towards the nearest crowd, the symbiote altering not only his clothes, but his face as well. He stopped in front of a large window, and took in his new appearance.

Taylor could not help but feel a little smug as he looked at a reflection that resembled his tenth grade algebra teacher, Mrs. Stohagan. He turned away from the window, snickering.

"Well, if it gets those suckers off of me, I guess I can play drag queen for a while. You sure picked a hell of a time to start talking. Damn near gave me a coronary."

_Sorry. It seemed like the thing to do right then._

"Ah, that's okay. We're safe again, for a little while anyway. That's what counts."

Looking around, he spotted an alley with a manhole in front of it. He made his way over as casually as he could, and leaned back against the wall.

"Okay. Fade us out slowly. We need to get the hell off this street, fast."

Soon, Taylor was nearly invisible, and easing the steel plate aside. Once in the service hole, he slid the plate back and climbed down the ladder. The symbiote regained its natural white coloration, but pulled away from Taylor's face. He began to make his way back to his new lair.

**AGENCY'S VIEW**

Yeager was silently cursing himself. The boy had slipped away again, and it had been entirely his fault. He landed on the nearest roof, and removed his helmet, running an armored hand across his haggard looking face. He had no idea how he was going to explain this debacle to his superiors, and he was starting to wonder if he even cared. A beeping sound from his helmet alerted him to the call he was dreading.

"Yeager. Go."

"_Mr. Yeager, I hope you have good news for me."_

"I'm sorry, sir. The boy eluded us again."

"_I see. Mr. Yeager, were my instructions in any way unclear?"_

"Your instructions were very clear, sir. You have to understand-"

The voice cut him off abruptly.

"_The only thing I have to do is remind you of your task. If you can't accomplish that, then I'll find someone who can. Is __**that**__ in any way unclear?"_

Yeager's temper finally broke.

"No sir. That's very clear. While you're finding my replacement, you're very welcome to put this damned armor on, and look for the thing yourself. In case you've forgotten, this thing is a shape-shifting chameleon with superhuman speed, strength, reflexes, and stamina. The only reason you, me, and every other person on this project aren't dead right now is because the boy isn't vindictive or violent. If we keep up this chase the way we're doing, that may very well change. He knows where the facility is, and if he decides to start assassinating project members, there's not much we could do to stop him. Do you really want to risk that?"

There was a long pause while his supervisor chewed on Yeager's outburst.

"_You know what, Mr. Yeager? You're absolutely right. Recall your team, and return to base. I want your suggestions as to how to capture this creature on my desk no later than noon tomorrow. Get some sleep. Good night, Mr. Yeager."_

Yeager blinked rapidly, trying to keep up with the rapid change in his situation. He had been certain he was going to be fired. He sighed, shaking his head, and recalled his team.

Sleep sounded like a very good idea.


	8. Chapter 8

**TAYLOR'S VIEW**

Taylor was a little surprised to find company waiting for him at his door. At least, company that did not have six arms. A dirty looking mutant with strange scars all over his body was leaning back against the door, appearing to have not a care in the world. _Uh oh_ echoed through Taylor's mind, and he was uncertain whether it had been uttered by himself, or his other.

"Can I help you?"

Mack looked him up and down belligerently.

"You Taylor?"

Alarm bells were already clamoring in his head, but that one question set Taylor back on his heels.

"What if I am? Who's asking?"

"Name's Mack. I'm the boss around here. Anybody stays down here, it's gotta be cleared through me. You weren't cleared, so you wanna be movin' on, right? Shame if you got banged up, nice face like yours. I'm thinkin' if you don't leave, I might just carve it off of you. Wear it on special occasions."

A hostile, animalistic growl escaped from Taylor's mouth, and his other sprouted claws. It covered his face, and bared fangs over an inch long. When Taylor spoke, his voice was a combination of his own and that of his other. Both sounded furious.

"_You picked the wrong day to be bothering us, Morlock."_

Mack's skin writhed under the scars, and his armor slid out, covering his vulnerable areas. He came at Taylor swinging. The symbiote dodged, and several chunks were bashed out of the concrete wall. Taylor snatched at Mack's wrist, and once he had a hold, flung the armored Morlock into the wall. Mack merely crawled his way out of the imprint in the reenforced concrete, and shook himself. He launched a series of kicks and punches at the symbiote, who dodged them all. Taylor waited until the last punch, and gripped the Morlock's arm once more. This time, he flung him not at a wall, but down the tunnel. Mack slid across the concrete several yards before picking himself back up.

"_Mack, we can do this to you all day. We could just web you to the ceiling until you head pops from the intensified blood flow. We don't really want to hurt you. Someone we care about belongs to your tribe, if we're not mistaken. We would much rather live peacefully with our neighbors. That can still happen, if you just leave us be."_

"No chance, pretty boy. I know all about you and Kali. She's mine, get it? I think I'm gonna take a dump on your body when I get done killing you. I'm gettin' the urge."

Pulling a shiv from his back pocket, he made a few feints. Taylor did not react to any of them as he stood there trying to figure out how to defeat his foe without permanently damaging him. Finally losing his patience, Mack made a serious thrust, burying the blade in the symbiote's abdomen. Taylor grunted from the impact, and looked down.

The symbiote had extended itself slightly to protect its host, thereby preventing the blade from actually reaching Taylor's flesh. A surge of adrenalin flashed through Taylor's body, and a sudden rage filled him.

"_We tried to resolve this without violence. We tried to be reasonable. Now, we are just a little too pissed off to care whether we hurt you or not."_

Reaching down, Taylor took Mack's hand in a vise-like grip, and began to squeeze. The Morlock tried to pull away, but a sharp twist not only forced him to release the shiv, it snapped a few bones. He grunted in pain, but still could not get away from the enraged symbiote. Taylor reached down, taking an ankle into his other hand, and using the extra leverage, flung Mack into the ceiling as hard as he could. The armored mutant hung there in the hole for a few seconds, and then his own weight pulled him down. Upon landing on the floor, his armor retracted. Taylor leaned in, meaning to check his pulse, but a high pitched scream hit him from behind. The pain of it had Taylor shrieking in agony, his every nerve on fire. As he collapsed to the tunnel floor, he heard the familiar voice of Spiderman.

"I knew that thing was bad news, Taylor. It's like I told you. Noone can control the symbiotes. Look at you. The darned thing has you attacking Morlocks."

Taylor started to get up, his arms shaking and weak. Spiderman blasted him again, and the pain proved to be too much. Blackness claimed the young Missouri man, and dragged him into it's embrace.

**KALI'S VIEW**

Kali awoke to find herself tied to a battered kitchen chair. As she looked around to get her bearings, she found that she was not alone. Goat Eyes was in a chair next to her, looking as if he had been beaten within an inch of his life. He looked over at her blearily.

"How you doin', kid?"

After seeing that she was tied with what looked like seaweed, she said "I'm going to kill them both. Taylor won't have to worry about Mack. I'm going to execute him myself. Him and that green, plant-faced bitch of his."

Goat Eyes snorted with laughter, and then winced with pain.

"Glad at least one of us is okay. Sorry bastard gave me over to Muscles for a punching bag. Take that under advisement, hon. Muscles ain't interested in helping you out. He thinks that if he helps Mack, Mack'll pimp you out to him."

Kali closed her eyes, wishing that the world would just stop stomping on her dreams for a few minutes. She opened her eyes again to find that Kelpie was walking into the room. She was grinning maliciously.

"How's that bondage holding up, sweetie? Mack says when he gets done with your boyfriend, he's gonna let me whip you while he does his thing with you. Looks like you finally get yours, little miss high and mighty. I knew this day was coming."

Kali could feel the adrenaline surging into her system. She flexed her arms, and pulled with all her strength, snapping the bonds and wiping the grin right off of Kelpie's face. Standing up slowly, Kali resembled her namesake in her fury. She hissed with rage, and bared the pedipalpi that she normally kept tucked in her mouth. Kelpie shrieked in horror, and bolted from the room. Goat Eyes chuckled painfully, groaning in between wheezes of laughter.

"It's about time you showed your fangs, kid."

Kali said nothing as she freed Goat Eyes. She simply pulled his bonds apart, and left the room. She never made a sound as she left the Morlock tribe's tunnels. Goat Eyes knew she would not be coming back without her lover. He figured she might not be coming back even then. He limped over to his own cubby hole, and began packing his few possessions. He really could not blame her. He wasn't so thrilled with the place himself.

**TAYLOR'S VIEW**

A severe headache let Taylor know he was still alive. A familiar beeping sound told him where he was. The feel of cold metal on his skin let him know he was lay naked on a table of some kind. He slowly opened his eyes, and tried to sit up. Tried, and failed. He raised his head, but could see nothing holding him down.

"What the heck is going on here? Hey! Somebody let me up!"

Spiderman's voice sounded from the other side of the room, where Taylor could not see him.

"Just relax, kid. We'll get that monster off of you, and you can go back to your life."

Taylor struggled against the whatever it was that was holding him down.

"I don't have a life to go back to, you sorry little ingrate! I'm being chased by the government. Do you really think that they're going to let me live after all I've seen? If you do this, they'll kill me anyway. If I survive the process, that is. You do realize that if you separate me from my symbiote, I'll probably go into some kind of arrest and die, right? Or do you even care?"

Reed Richard's voice came from the same direction.

"Mister Stevens, that creature is likely to kill you anyway. They don't think like humans do, and are quite happy to use us as prey. It has to be destroyed. I have the equipment to revive you if you crash during the procedure. You'll be just fine."

Taylor sighed, and lay his head back down on the table. His other began speaking to him.

_I'm sorry I got you into this mess, Taylor. If I'd only found a different host, you would never have had to deal with all this._

_**Forget about it, pal. We're in this together. Question is, how in the heck do we get out of this scrape?**_

_I'm working on that. Just give me a minute, and don't talk to them anymore. They're not listening to us anyway._

Taylor couldn't help a small smile. Spiderman and Mr. Fantastic began a conversation so full of technical jargon, he could not understand more than a few words. After a few seconds, Taylor felt an itch on the back of his scalp. It went away soon, but a pulling sensation followed it. He felt himself relax as he realized what it was.

His other was about to get creative.

A tendril about the thickness of a human hair was pressing buttons and flipping switches. After a few seconds, the feeling of being pressed into the table vanished, and the pulling sensation ceased. Taylor flexed his muscles, checking for his readiness to leave, and then flipped up to stand on the table. His other slithered over him, and he faced the two superheroes.

"_Boys, we are __**so**__ out of here."_

Taylor and his other were feeling quite smug, or rather, they were until they saw the sonic rifle in Reed's hands.

"_Aww, sh-"_

A high pitched blast of sound and a wave of blackness cut off the symbiote's curse.

**KALI'S VIEW**

Kali arrived at Taylor's lair just as Mack was waking up. She pounded on the door, shouting Taylor's name, but got no response. Acting on a hunch, she pressed her hand to the sensor beside the door, and it slid open. She called his name again, but still received no answer. Ignoring her former tribe leader for the moment, she stepped inside the lair and shut the door. She sat down in front of the computer, which Taylor had left on, and began tapping in commands. Within moments, she had the video feed from the surveillance camera outside the door on the big screen. She backed it up until she got to the fight between Mack and Taylor, and allowed it to play. She watched as Spiderman snuck up behind Taylor and shot him with some kind of energy rifle. She listened closely as the wallcrawler said "Well, now to get you to Four Freedoms plaza before you wake up and try to eat my brains."

Kali sat back in the chair, seething. She knew she could not just go barging into the headquarters of the Fantastic Four. The building was run by one of the smartest people in New York, maybe in the world. It probably had built in defenses up the wazoo. She cast her eyes around the lair, and saw a door that neither she nor Taylor had noticed. Once again acting on instinct, she opened the door.

"Holy Mary, Mother of God..."

She stood, frozen, as she took in what her eyes were seeing. The entire room was one big arsenal of the Green Goblin's weaponry. Gliders, pumpkin bombs, electroblast gloves, razor bats, and several costumes of advanced design. She began to smile as a plan formed in her mind. She couldn't go in the front door? Fine. She'd just go in through a wall, or the roof.

And she would be going in very well armed.

**PETER'S VIEW**

Taylor had, unfortunately, awakened by the time they started removing the symbiote. His throat was raw from all the screaming. Using a combination of ultrasonics and magnetics, they were tearing the alien creature out of him. At least, that was what it felt like. The symbiote was shrieking inside his head, matching the agonized screams of its host. Spiderman winced at the sound.

"Jeez, Reed. Can't you speed it up a little? The poor guy's in hell."

Reed shook his head sadly.

"I wish I could, Spiderman, but this is a delicate process. If I go any faster, it'll kill the host."

Peter kept an eye on the vitals monitor, hoping that the removal procedure would be over soon. He wanted to help the kid get back home, and then get home himself. Any day involving symbiotes was a trying day, in his book. He looked back over at the young man on the table. Taylor was no longer screaming. He was just twitching violently, with tears streaming from his eyes. His jaw was clenched shut.

After a few more minutes, it was over. Taylor shuddered, and gasped out a ragged breath. His head turned towards Spiderman, his eyes meeting Peter's. He rasped out only one word.

"Murderer."

And then the alarm sounded.

At first, Peter wasn't sure what it was, but judging from Reed's reaction he determined it to be the life signs monitor. Reed began doing CPR, shouting at Spiderman to begin doing artificial respiration. The alien goo that they had removed from Taylor's body was being held in a force field of Reed's devising, and so was not a threat, although it made plenty.

"_You will pay for this. Both of you. Neither of us meant any harm, and now you've killed my host. Am I to be next, murderers?"_

The life support systems whirred to life, allowing the two heroes to step back and catch their breath. Reed ran the back of his hand across his forehead, wiping away the perspiration that had collected there.

"Life support systems are up. He should be okay now."

Spiderman nodded, trying not to let the symbiote's words echo in his mind. As much as he hated to admit it, they **had** nearly killed the boy. He still wasn't breathing on his own, and Peter wondered vaguely if he ever would. He turned to leave the room, but stopped when he saw his way blocked by Sue Richards and a horrified Kali. The young Morlock entered the room, but upon seeing Taylor on the table hooked into the life support system, she screamed and raised her hands to her face. Reed looked nearly apoplectic at the intrusion.

"Sue! What on earth are you doing here? We're in the middle of a very dangerous procedure!"

Sue said nothing. She merely took in the situation before her, and then stepped over to the cage holding the symbiote. Reed stretched himself to block her path.

"Don't! That creature could kill us all if you release it!"

She stared at her husband with something akin to betrayal in her eyes.

"How could you do this, Reed? How could you do something so monstrous?" She turned to Spiderman, her anger building. "And you! Since when do you condone punishing the victim? Not only that, but kidnaping and then performing unwanted medical procedures on them? Tell me I'm not seeing this!"

Spiderman shook his head in confusion.

"Victim? What are you talking about, Sue? I saw him beat some poor homeless mutant unconscious. If I hadn't stopped him, he'd probably have killed him. You know what the symbiotes are like."

Kali, who had moved over to stand by Taylor, hissed in outrage.

"He was defending himself, you idiot! Mack was trying to kill him. You've just finished what he started!"

The symbiote shuddered, and spoke to Kali.

"_You. Beloved one. Kali. Free us. We are dying. Both of us. We are one being now, and cannot survive being separated for long. Free us, so that we may live."_

Sue flipped the switch, cutting power to the force field. The white blob plopped on the floor, and slithered onto the table, covering Taylor's body. He twitched once as it seeped into his pores, mouth, nostrils, and ears. After a few seconds, he began breathing on his own, and a few seconds after that, he was pulling the life support gear off of himself. He sat up, and formed his denim outfit. Sue seemed a bit surprised when he stuck out a hand to her.

"Thanks, Mrs. Richards. I owe you one."

"No, Taylor. You don't owe me anything. What happened to you should never have been allowed, and I'm just sorry I didn't get here sooner. If your friend hadn't shown up when she did, my husband would be going on trial for murder."

Taylor turned to look at the two heroes who had just put him through hell. He sighed once, and slid off the table. Everyone tensed up, fully expecting a fight. He merely shook his head, and said "Relax, guys. Believe it or not, I'm one of the good guys." He hugged Kali, and led her out of the room. Sue watched them leave, and then turned back to her husband.

"You know, if I hadn't been on the roof when she arrived, she would have probably been blasting chunks out of this building. She was carrying enough weaponry to level a city block. Most of it looked like stuff the Green Goblin used to use."

Peter felt his stomach sink to somewhere near his knees.

"Sue, did she say anything to you when she arrived?"

"Yes, Spiderman, as a matter of fact she did. She landed that bat glider, and then demanded to know where her boyfriend was. When I said I had no idea what she was going on about, she fired a burst of energy at my foot from one of those gloves she was wearing, and told me that you had attacked Taylor from behind and brought him here. I didn't want to believe it at first. I told her she couldn't be right, and that you would never do such a thing. She said she had seen video footage of you doing that very thing. I told her she was mistaken, and she pulled out a hand held video unit and made a liar out of me. I was defending my husband, and someone I consider a friend and ally. This is the first time I've ever felt like a complete fool for doing that. You two owe that boy one hell of an apology, and I think you should consider yourselves lucky he isn't the vindictive type."

She turned on her heel, and stormed out of the lab. Reed started to follow her, but Spiderman stopped him.

"Reed, she's right. That's the second time he's had every right to tear my head off and use it for a kick ball, and not done it. He hasn't shown any real aggressive tendencies, barring that fight in the sewers, and if what Sue says is right, he was only defending himself. He hasn't attacked anyone that I know of. Maybe this symbiote is different. It'd be a nice change, if he is."

Reed chewed that over for a moment, and then said "Fair enough, but just in case he isn't, I'll keep the cannon handy."

On the roof, a different conversation was taking place.

"Taylor, I was so worried about you. I thought you were dead."

Taylor grimaced, and rubbed his sore chest.

"From what my other tells me, I was for a couple of seconds. After they separated us, I crashed. They had to jumpstart me. Explains why my chest feels like I've been kicked by a thoroughbred. I need to relax for a couple of days. Let my heart heal. You don't get brought back from the dead without paying a price."

He looked over the equipment that Kali had left on the roof after Sue had talked her out of a full scale assault on the building. He clicked his tongue once, shaking his head.

"I'm guessing you did some exploring while I was away."

Kali blushed a bit, and slid an arm around his waist. He pulled her into his embrace, and kissed her gently.

"We owe you our lives, pretty lady. If you hadn't showed up, we'd either be dead now, or wish we were. Thank you."

Kali grinned broadly, mischief in her eyes.

"Well, if you want to pay me back, I seem to recall that we had dinner plans, this evening."

She mounted the glider, and her eyes widened as Taylor's other sprouted a set of bat-like wings. They flew off the roof together, to return to their home in the sewers.


	9. Chapter 9

**TAYLOR'S VIEW**

The next two weeks were fairly quiet. Goat Eyes had moved into the lair, and was living more comfortably than he had in years. Mack had returned to the Morlock tribe, and had showed sense enough to leave Taylor and Kali alone. Taylor, when he wasn't spending time with Kali or Goat Eyes, had been exploring the tunnels surrounding his home. He had run across the lizard people once, and found them to be a bit friendlier than reputed. Some of them, anyway. Kali had begun familiarizing herself with the weapons in the lair, as well as the computer. She had also begun learning Tai Chi from Taylor. He found that watching her go through the routines was quite fascinating. Nearly hypnotic, in fact.

It was on one of his exploratory forays into the lower tunnels that an idea struck him. He'd already started a small garden in an unused portion of the lair, using sun lamps stolen from a drug house he'd encountered a week before. He wondered vaguely what Spiderman thought of that. An entire stash of marijuana destroyed, and all the man's equipment taken, in what appeared to be a one man police raid. Goat Eyes was actually the one tending the garden, taking to the task with the joy of a man just entering retirement.

Taylor realized that without a steady income, they wouldn't survive for long. Sooner or later, Taylor's food thefts would be noticed by one of the street level heroes, and that was something he desperately wanted to avoid. Spiderman avoided the area like the plague ever since encountering Taylor one night after the separation incident. He thought back to that night, and remembered.

_A week and a half ago..._

Taylor swung over to a nearby roof, looking around his newly adopted turf. The symbiote's territoriality could no longer be ignored, and Taylor decided that maybe being a street level hero might not be so bad. At the very least, he could run out the pimps and drug pushers. People like that made his blood boil. It was on his first night on patrol, and he was actually enjoying prowling around. He had come across a pimp beating on one of his girls, and interceded on her behalf. The pimp left, unharmed, and fearing for the existence of his testicles. The hooker seemed less than pleased at first.

"Why did you do that? He's just gonna beat me harder when he catches me now."

"_Not if values his nuts. We assume he wishes to keep them. You should go now."_

"What? You ain't gonna lecture me about turnin' tricks?"

"_No. So long as you don't harm the innocent, we don't care how you make your money. It's your business, not ours. We would advise avoiding having a pimp from now on, though. We see no reason why you should do all the work, and then give your hard earned cash to some jerk who beats you. Unless you like that sort of thing, that is."_

The hooker blinked in confusion.

"You don't care that I'm a hooker?"

"_No."_

"Okay. Can I go now?"

"_Of course. You don't need our permission. We wish you a pleasant evening."_

He crawled up to the roof, and nearly ran into Spiderman nose to nose. Upon seeing who it was, he couldn't help the angry hiss that escaped him.

"_Sssssspiderman. What do you want with us?"_

"Just checking up on you. Making sure you keep out of trouble."

"_Still indulging in voyeurism, we see. How sad. Your life is so pathetic that you have to live vicariously through others? Very sad."_

"Hey, let's not be nasty about this. I'm one of the good guys, remember?"

"_Let us tell you what we remember, Spiderman. We remember trusting you. We remember you jumping to conclusions, and trying to kill us. We remember you succeeding. We think you're not as much of a good guy as you pretend to be. We think you are a self righteous hypocrite, and we think you need to stay away from us. This is our territory, Spiderman. Stay away from it."_

Spiderman paused for a moment, and then said "Am I talking to the alien, or the human? Sorry if I get a little confused here, but I know what the symbiotes are like."

Taylor morphed the symbiote into his denim outfit, and scowled.

"Spiderman, I am fully aware of what you went through with Venom and Carnage. I know what happened with the symbiotes from the Life Foundation. What you can't seem to understand is that I am not them. I don't have a pathological need to eat your brains, I'm not interested in slaughtering people at random, and I have no desire to take over the world for a big corporation. Why is that so hard for you to understand? I'm not your enemy, regardless of the fact that for all intents and purposes, you and Reed Richards murdered me. I don't want to be your enemy, and neither does my other. I don't care that you have a problem with us. As long as you leave us alone, I won't kick a fuss."

"And if I don't?"

Taylor regained his more horrific appearance, and rasped _"You don't want to go down that road with us, Peter. We have asked you nicely, and we see no reason not to keep things civilized. If you insist on being a bastard about this, we will defend ourselves as violently as we have to in order to make you leave us alone. We would rather avoid being violent, if possible. The choice is yours. We won't harm the innocent, but you aren't innocent anymore. You've blood on your hands, wall crawler. Ours. We will always remember that. Keep away."_

Taylor leapt off the roof, camouflaging himself as he did so. He had not heard an inkling of Spiderman's presence since then. That suited everyone just fine. Spiderman was not a popular person in the lair.

_Back in the here and now..._

Taylor came upon an area he called The Rift. It was an enormous hole in the earth that went down for at least a mile and a half. About sixty feet down the opposite side was where the lizard people made their home. He swung over to the other side, and climbed up the wall about twenty-five feet to the entrance of a sewer drain. That drain led to a subway tunnel that Taylor liked to use for his clandestine raids for food and necessities. This time around, he was making a medicine run. Kali was having menstrual cramps, and Goat Eyes was suffering from mild arthritis pain in his legs. Taylor was on his way to a small drugstore with the last of the cash he had found in an alley the day before. He could have just stolen it, knowing full well that noone would have known, and he would not show up on the security cameras. He preferred to pay his way when he could, however, feeling that his karma was screwed up enough as it was with all the stealing. If he could just find some way to make a steady income, he could pay all the money back, and set things right.

It occurred to him that he could start a delivery service. He had no real reason to hide what he was from a prospective employer, and unlike most delivery services, he didn't have to worry about traffic or even pedestrians. The more he thought about it, the more appealing it sounded. Before he could do that, he had to get some information on delivery fees and the like.

Taylor was really getting into the idea when something finally dropped him right back into reality. Officially, he was still a wanted fugitive. He would need to find a way around that before he could do anything else with his life. He sighed in frustration, and shifted his appearance to that of an old woman. He walked out of the subway station, and headed for the drugstore, completely unaware that he was being observed.

**AGENCY'S VIEW**

Yeager watched as the old woman came up the stairs of the subway station. His agents had already informed him of who it really was. They had been watching Taylor Stevens for the past two weeks, keeping track of his patterns. Today was the day they reclaimed the symbiote. All his agents were armed with sonic pistols, and sonic grenades. There was no way that Stevens was getting away this time. A call on his headset pulled him out of his thoughts.

"_Sir, we may have a problem."_

"Explain."

"_The target is being observed by what look like SHIELD agents."_

Yeager swore under his breath. SHIELD agents? That was all he needed!

"Acknowledged. Continue surveillance, but do not act. We can't afford to have SHIELD involved in our affairs."

"_Roger that, sir."_

Yeager sighed heavily. He was never going to hear the end of this one.

**TAYLOR'S VIEW**

To say that Taylor was surprised when a grizzled looking man with an eyepatch walked up and said his name would have been the grossest of understatements. Doing his best old lady voice, Taylor denied his identity.

"Sorry mister. Never heard of him."

The man with the eyepatch scowled, giving Taylor the impression that was his usual facial expression.

"Don't play with me, kid. You're Taylor Stevens. I'm Nick Fury. I was told you might be of some use to my outfit."

Taylor growled, and assumed his normal appearance.

"Maybe I could be, but there's a couple of problems here."

"Yeah? And what might those be?"

Taylor assumed his battle outfit, making no attempt to hide what he was.

"_Well, for starters, we're not a soldier. We try to avoid violence entirely, as a matter of fact. Secondly, the last time we were asked to serve our country, we wound up in a cage surrounded by people who wanted to dissect us. In case you didn't know, the government you work for wants to kill me. We're not interested in dying, we're not interested in being studied, and we're not interested in killing for the sake of national security. We were actually thinking of starting a delivery service. Something simple, and nonviolent. How does that fit into your plans?"_

Fury smirked, and put a cigar between his lips.

"Relax, kid. I'm not looking to hire an assassin. I got people way more qualified for that than you. I was looking for someone who can get into places, get what I want, and get out without being detected. I'm told you've got some skill in that area. Interested?"

Feeling somewhat intrigued, Taylor resumed his normal appearance again, and leaned against a nearby brick wall.

"Possibly. What's the catch? You government guys always have to have someone by the short hairs before you even bother to ask them nicely, so what's the deal? You gonna kill my great uncle twice removed if I say no?"

"Nope. My boys will just walk away, and leave you for the other guys that saw you come out of the train station."

Taylor turned his attention inward for a moment.

_**Please tell me we didn't miss a bunch of assholes watching us from the roof tops.**_

_I'm sorry, Taylor. I wasn't paying attention. He's right. It looks like the whole team is here, including the jerk in the armor that jumped us last time._

_**Forget about it. We can't be perfect all the time. How badly are we screwed?**_

_Bad. They have premium sniping positions, and all our escape routes are covered. No armor this time, so I'm betting they have something nasty up their sleeves. Maybe nerve toxin, maybe sonics, or maybe even both. I'd rather not test that._

_**Me neither. Okay. I guess Fury is our best bet. Watch those bozos on the rooftops. If they so much as twitch, I wanna know about it.**_

_Gotcha._

"Okay Fury. We'll take the job. What's the prize?"

"I got a possible traitor. What I don't have is evidence. I need you to infiltrate the installation, search his office, and bring me whatever you find. The trick is, I need you to do it without leaving any traces that you were there. If this guy catches wind of someone poking around, he'll vanish. He's done it before."

Taylor nodded sagely, and smiled slightly.

"We think we can handle that, but we want something in return."

"I'm listening. I ain't making any promises, but I'll see what I can do."

"First, we want our record cleaned. When we escaped from that house of horrors you people call a lab, we became fugitives. They have our picture on wanted posters all over the country, and as you said, they have agents hunting us. We want that to go away."

"I can take care of that with one phone call. What else?"

"Money. We need money to live on while we get ourselves established. Our girlfriend and her foster father are living with us, and we can't support them on nothing. They can't work due to medical reasons, so we need an income of some kind."

"Kid, nobody works for free. You get on board with me, you'll be well paid for it. Military benefits too. You also get quarters on base, if you want them. Be better than living on the street, or below it."

"Sounds good. One more thing. We discovered a whole mess of weaponry that really needs to be disposed of. You might be familiar with some of it. Our lair is in an old hideout of the Green Goblin's. He left some of his toys behind when he moved out. We'd like them to disappear from existence entirely."

"Not a problem. Our weapons disposal people are the best in the country. You bring 'em to us, and we'll take care of 'em."

"Deal. We'll even go you one better. We'll take you to them. Just give us a second to pick up what we came for."

Fury looked up to see where they had stopped walking.

"A drug store? What's the matter? You sick or something?"

"Arthritis strength Tylenol, and Pamprin. Goat Eyes is getting on in years, and Kali started her period the other day."

Fury's expression had Taylor giggling nearly the entire trip back to the lair.

By the time Taylor returned to the lair with his guests, Fury was suitably disgusted.

"Jeez, kid! How can you stand it down here? This place would give rat holes a bad name!"

"It was this, or dissection, Fury. For what it's worth, we've been improving it here and there. A small garden, which Goat Eyes was kind enough to take over for us. We suck as a gardener, but he's got a real talent for it. We've been working on finding parts to build a hot tub. No luck yet, though. We have phone and internet access, free cable, water, and power. All in all, it's not a bad place. Best of all, the neighbors are friendly, or at the very least, they're quiet."

Fury grunted in response, thoroughly unimpressed.

Shrugging, Taylor scanned his palm on the reader, causing the door to open. Goat Eyes looked up, scowling. Kali looked up from the couch she was laying on, a battered hot water bottle on her stomach. The look was less than friendly.

"Taylor, if one of those upworlders does not have some form of pain reliever, I am going to feed them to the lizards."

Taylor smiled gently, and got two bottles of water from the kitchen. One, he handed to Goat Eyes, along with the Tylenol. The other, he handed to Kali, along with the Pamprin. She thanked him, and immediately took the recommended dosage. Fury cocked an eyebrow.

"Can't work because of medical reasons, huh? That's a good one, kid. Let's get those weapons. I ain't got all day."

It was Kali's turn to cock an eyebrow at her lover.

"Taylor? Please tell me you didn't bring this upworld jackass down here to let him root through the arsenal. I know you wouldn't do that to me. I know that because you love me, and you're my nice boyfriend, and you wouldn't want me to castrate every last one of the bozos that touched my nice new toys."

One of the agents accompanying Fury started to chuckle quietly. Kali got right in his face.

"I am a mutant woman with the proportionate strength of a spider, and I'm on the rag. Do you really want to be laughing at me right now?"

The agent turned pale, and shook his head. No, he definitely did not want to be laughing at her right now.

Taylor went over to Kali, and led her back to the couch. After giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, he stood.

"We're just giving him the poisonous stuff, sweetheart. Although I have to admit being tempted to give him those mini sidewinders. I don't think we really need them, do you?"

"He gets the poisonous stuff. Nobody is touching my missiles. Those go with the glider."

"Well, you heard the lady. Follow me."

He led the way into the arsenal, and heard one of the agents whistle quietly. Walking over to one corner, he picked up a cardboard box full of pumpkin bombs.

"We were going to give the rest of these to Reed Richards for disposal, but our trust in him is somewhat lacking of late. We hope you are more trustworthy. The stuff in these grenades is one of those things we wish could be uncreated. It is without a doubt the most horrific chemical weapon we have ever seen."

Soon, all the grenades were accounted for, and in SHIELD hands. Taylor sighed in relief, feeling as if a weight had been taken off of him. He followed them out to their vehicles. Fury handed him a small ear piece.

"Keep this on you at all times, and be ready for my call. You know, this wouldn't be necessary if you'd just take some rooms at SHIELD headquarters. The medical facilities there are first rate, and the food ain't too bad either."

Taylor just smiled.

"We'll talk it over with the others. They're Morlocks, and they'll be the first to tell you that Morlocks belong underground. We'll see. We can contact you on this thing if necessary, yes?"

"Yeah. Take care of yourself, kid."

"You too."

He watched the men leave, and then returned to the tunnels.

_**Are we being followed?**_

_Don't get snippy with me, Taylor. You didn't see them either._

Taylor smirked at the response.

_**True, but I don't have the whole sensing people thing. That's your department.**_

_No. We are not being followed. Ass._

He was giggling by the time he got back into the lair.

It was another three days before Taylor got the call from Fury. He had been getting a bit desperate, as the last of their food was about to run out. Taylor was hesitant to steal anymore, feeling that it might be fun to go grocery shopping with Kali sometime. They could actually have a bit more say in what went on the dinner table, for once.

He sat up in the bed he shared with Kali, and put the beeping ear piece in his ear.

"Go ahead."

"_You're expected at the place we first met. A car is waiting for you."_

"Understood. I'll be there shortly."

Kali came awake next to him.

"Taylor? What's wrong?"

He smiled, and kissed her cheek.

"Nothing's wrong, sweetheart. I'm just getting up to go to work. Fury called."

She nodded her head, and hugged him close.

"Alright, love. Please be careful."

Taylor got out of bed, and had the other cloak him. He grinned at the sound of Kali's gasp of surprise.

"_So careful, they'll never even know we were there."_

He left the lair, and made his way up to the street where he'd first met Fury. Disguising himself in the old woman look, he headed over to the car with the government tags and SHIELD emblem on the doors. The rear passenger side door opened, and he clambered in. Fury sat in the back, holding a file folder. He handed it to Taylor without speaking. As the younger man perused the contents, he came upon pictures of areas he recognized from his captivity. He looked up at Fury, his disguise melting into his battle mode suit.

"_Is this involving who I think it is?"_

Fury nodded.

"I take it you recognize a few of those pictures?"

"_We do. If we had known you were going to send us in to take this bozo down, we would not have hesitated to join your outfit."_

"That's why I didn't tell you. I don't need agents going hog wild on some revenge spree."

Taylor snarled.

"_We're not interested in revenge. We just want to make sure he can't do to anyone else what he did to us. He meant to kill us at the end, and he wouldn't hesitate to drag others into this if he thought it would get us back in his hands. What do you need us to do?"_

If Fury had any opinion about Taylor's answer, his expression gave no sign.

"I need you to go in covertly, and upload a virus into his system. The trick is, you have to do it from his office so you can bypass the worst of the security systems. Once you do that, we can crack every secret he's got. Upload the virus, get out of there, and leave no traces."

"_On the off chance that we get caught, do you have any instructions?"_

"Yeah. Don't."

Two hours later, Taylor was gliding on his other's wings into a place he'd deeply desired never to return to. He landed on the run, and his other camouflaged him. Sensing the items he carried next to his skin, he mentally listed them off for what had to be the hundredth time.

_**Virus on a USB flash drive, check. Ear phone connection to Fury, check. Map of the compound, check. Smoke canister, tear gas grenade, and enough fear to make me want to scream like a four year old girl, check.**_

He came up to the guard station, and on a hunch, crept around to look at the screens that the uniformed guard was staring at. As two people in white lab coats walked past and waved, Taylor's stomach dropped to his feet. Each screen was hooked up to a different sensor, it seemed. One showed an x-ray image of everything, one showed thermal images, and one appeared to be a pheromone detector.

Nearly cursing aloud, the symbiote stalked back outside, wondering how he was going to enter the areas he needed to access. He looked up into the sky, watching a bird fly overhead to land on the building. An idea formed, bringing a slow smile to his face.

Taylor could not help snickering quietly as he climbed through the ventilator tube. Using a web line, he lowered himself down to the bottom of the shaft and felt a shiver down his spine as he recognized the area he found himself in.

_**Do we detect anyone in the area? I do NOT want to be found down here, of all places.**_

_I don't sense anyone, but let's be careful anyway, shall we?_

_**We shall.**_

Creeping towards the exit to the room where the two beings had been tortured in every sense of the word, Taylor leapt to the ceiling, letting his other cloak him once more. Checking the map Fury had given him, he set off to complete his objective.

Taylor found the office with little trouble, but once there, he hit a snag. There were two armored guards outside the door, and neither looked like they would be leaving anytime soon.

_**Well, that's just freaking great. Now what do I do?**_

Looking around, he saw a man in a lab coat go into what looked like a supply closet. Feeling curious, and not knowing what else he could do at that given moment, he followed the man into the closet. At first, Taylor could not tell what the man was doing, but soon it became apparent as he heard the sound of a lighter clicking. He assumed it was an impromptu smoke break until the smell hit his nostrils.

_**Well, well... Looks like this bunch doesn't do random drug testing as often as they should.**_

Another idea came to Taylor, and as stealthily as he could, he sidled up to the man in the lab coat. After a few seconds, he managed to use a hair thin tentacle to snag the man's lighter. Having his prize in hand, he snuck back out of the storage closet and headed for the lab the man had exited earlier. A few moments of searching bagged him the other part of his plan. Taking the bottle of alcohol and lighter, he headed back to the office door by way of the ceiling.

A few moments, and several bursts of a fire extinguisher later, the door to the office opened. The occupant was wanting to know what was going on. That was the opportunity that Taylor needed to enter the room and plug in the flash drive. Uploading the virus was the work of seconds, and once it was done, Taylor decided that discretion was the better part of valor. As the man who had once held Taylor's chains, figuratively speaking, stormed back into his office, Taylor slipped out. Having had his fill of the place, he tried to make a ceiling land speed record to get back to the vent shaft he used to get in. He was about to climb in when he realized that he had made a horrible mistake.

_**The flash drive. I left the damned flash drive in the computer.**_

Mentally berating himself the whole way, he crept back to the office. On the plus side, maintenance men were repairing it, so it was standing wide open. Even better, the man the office belonged to was not in it. He reached down to get the flash drive, and groaned quietly when he found that it was not there.

_**Okay. This is going to complicate things a bit.**_

A sound at the door made him look up, and the sight that greeted him caused his stomach to tighten painfully. The man was back, and he was not alone. Accompanying him were four armored guards, all of whom were blocking his only way out of the room. Ducking quickly under the desk, Taylor began ransacking his brain for ideas. After a second or two, one occurred to him, making him grin maniacally.

_Taylor, if this doesn't work, we are both going to die. I will not allow that to happen. Do you understand?_

The tone of his other's question got Taylor's attention immediately.

_**Are you saying what I think you're saying?**_

_I am saying that I will not allow us to come to harm, and your squeamishness is not going to stop me from protecting ourselves. Just because you refuse to kill to defend us does not mean that I will. I _will _kill to defend us. Take it under advisement._

_**Gotcha. With any luck, this will not only get us out of here, it'll throw the bad guys off our track. Just back me up on this, okay?**_

_Very well. I will let you run the show. For now._

Filing the conversation away for a later date, Taylor burst out from under the desk and fired off a web line. It hit it's mark, square in the middle of the unarmored man's chest, allowing the symbiote to jerk him into the room. Holding a wicked looking set of claws over the man's face, Taylor hissed in his ear.

"_Send them away, or we will eat your face in front of them. For a start."_

The man's fear could be smelled, but he did not show it.

"You'd die before you got out of this room."

"_True, but you would die first, and you would be shrieking. Send them away. We have business with you that is not for their ears."_

Taylor retracted the claws, but did not release his grip on the man's collar.

"Alright. This should be interesting."

He nodded to the men in armor, and they closed the door. Taylor relaxed his hold, letting the man sit down behind his desk.

"Okay. You have my attention. What is it that you want?"

"_We want our offspring. The one you captured. The one bonded to the human called Taylor Stevens."_

The man's eyes widened for a moment, showing his surprise.

"How did you get here?"

Thinking fast, Taylor replied _"We managed to take a Shi'ar host. He had access to a ship and matter transportation device. We would have preferred a portal, but did not have time to build one. Where is the human Taylor Stevens? We want our offspring. Now."_

"Could you build a portal here? If you had the time?"

_**Gotcha!**_ Taylor thought triumphantly. _**This is going to work!**_

"_We will have to in order to return to the Synoptic. Once we have returned home with our offspring, you may do whatever you wish with the portal. We would love to have you join us in the Synoptic. You humans are quite delicious."_

The man suppressed a shudder of revulsion.

"Taylor Stevens is in New York. My men can help you track him."

"_Unnecessary. Once we are close enough, we will be able to sense our offspring and track it ourselves. You will escort us out of this place, human. We are aware of your treacherous nature, and wish to ensure you have no opportunity to betray us. Once we have reached this New York, we will alert you to our presence. Upon retrieving our offspring, we will leave, and the portal device will be yours. Do we have a bargain?"_

"We do. If you'll follow me?"

Taylor was smiling the whole way to the front gate. His other made the smile a hideously fanged rictus grin. Upon leaving, he felt the tracer that the human had tried to slip on him unnoticed, and his smile grew wider as he felt it stored next to the flash drive his other had picked out of the human's pocket. He walked through the woods for a while before getting to the nearest highway. Hopping onto a passing semi, the symbiote climbed atop the trailer, and settled down for a while. While he waited for the truck to pull in to a truck stop, he decided to have a chat with his other.

_**Okay. It worked. Now how about you tell me just what the heck the Synoptic is? Is this something I need to worry about? I mean, I thought we had a good thing going here.**_

_We do, Taylor. The Synoptic is the ruling body of my kind. You already know that they are conquerors. As for the portal technology, it does exist, but I cannot build it. I lack the expertise necessary to construct anything that complex. I have some small weapons knowledge, but that is all._

_**Such as? Could you show me how to make gas grenades?**_

_Easily. I'm surprised you haven't asked me sooner. All my knowledge is yours to access, if you wish. You know that._

_**I do now. Oh, and for the record, I'm not planning on putting us in that kind of life or death situation again, so no more threats about taking me over and turning me into a murderer. Okay?**_

_It was not a threat, Taylor. Just a fact. I will protect us to the best of my ability. After all, I would like to live long enough to have offspring of my own one day. I can't do that without a host. I need you, Taylor._

Taylor sighed heavily, and came to a decision.

_**Okay. If it comes down to it, and I can't think us out of the situation, you do what you have to do. Just try to keep the body count to a minimum, okay? Don't keep fighting if you get the chance to run.**_

_Count on it._

**SHIELD HEADQUARTERS**

To say that Nick Fury was angry was the grossest of understatements. Upon Taylor's return, he was subjected to a grueling debriefing, and an even worse chewing out by Fury himself. By the time Fury was done screaming at him, Taylor was near his own boiling point. He said absolutely nothing, but when he stood up and looked at the chair he had been sitting in for the past three hours, he finally noticed the claw marks he had left in the arm rests. His other was snarling internally, as well.

_Who does that talking monkey think he is?!_

_**He thinks he's the guy in charge of a major national security organization. The problem is that he's right. He's also right that we messed up, much as I hate to admit it.**_

_Doesn't mean he has to yell at us like that. I don't like that, and neither do you. We should just eat him, and go home._

Taylor was not certain how to respond to that, as he was fairly sure that his other was quite serious about eating Fury. Upon seeing Fury come down the corridor, Taylor and his other both groaned in unison. The symbiote assumed it's "Taylor's favorite outfit" guise, and turned to face Fury. Taylor's face was a study in careful neutrality. His voice, however, was purely the symbiote's.

"_**What do you want now, human? We warn you, we are not in the mood for more yelling."**_

Fury took the warning for what it was, and kept his tone even.

"I got another job for you. Think you can get through this one without screwing up?"

"_**That depends on the job. We are an untrained civilian, not a soldier. Do not expect us to act like one. What is the job?"**_

Fury had the grace to look at least a little guilty at that.

"I need eyes on a certain 'super hero.' This guy strikes me as off, and I want to know what's going on with him. Think you can track him, and figure out what's up with him? I'd prefer you kept a low profile on this one. Don't come into contact with the target. Just watch him, and see what he does. Clear?"

"_**Alright then. Give me what you have on him."**_

Fury handed him a file folder. It had very little information on the target, outside of a picture of the hero in question, and a few notes about the most recent sightings. The costume was skin tight, green with black trim, and sported a spider on his chest. Taylor could not contain the surprised grunt.

"_**Did that idiot Spiderman change costumes, or is this some new idiot?"**_

"That's exactly what we want you to find out."

"_**According to this, he's been showing up not far from our territory. We're not sure we like that. If he is an ally, what do you want done?"**_

"If he turns out to be okay, just keep track of him and let him do his thing. Lord knows this world needs heroes bad enough."

"_**And if he turns out to be not so hero-like?"**_

"Give me a holler, and we'll come and bag 'im."

"_**Understood. We'll begin our hunt tomorrow. For now, we want to go home and get some rest. Looking into the eyes of the man who tortured us has left us... Unsettled. Catch you later, Fury."**_

**TAYLOR'S VIEW**

Taylor and Kali were leaving at about the same time the next day. She was headed to the surface to do some shopping with their new income, and Taylor was headed out to find the new so called superhero. They shared a chaste kiss, and upon deciding that it was not enough, Taylor pulled her in for another, most decidedly not chaste, kiss. They departed in opposite directions, and Taylor headed for his usual exit from the underground. Deciding to brave the day with his own face, he directed his other to create a blue hooded jacket, jeans, and sneakers, only realizing after he had done so that his outfit was a match for Kali's.

Allowing his other to direct his movements through the crowd, Taylor pulled out the file from the extradimensional pocket it was able to create. He examined it as he walked.

_**You know, I'm not sure if I should be chasing this guy. If he's a hero, he won't want me interfering with him. **_

_Well, it should be easy enough to find out. He's been following us for the past three minutes._

_**He's been WHAT?!**_

The other relayed the visual information, allowing Taylor to see above and behind him. Sure enough, a flash of green and black leapt from one roof top to another.

_**Oh, you have got to be kidding me. Okay. Let's lose him, and see if we can't turn the hunted into the hunter.**_

Spotting a handy revolving door, Taylor headed into it. As he made one round, he assumed his "little old lady" disguise, and exited the door. He made his way down the next street, seeing if his trailing target had lost him at the door. As surely as if they were tied together, the tracker made the turn as well.

_**Hmm, this guy should not be able to follow us like this without help. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?**_

_The homing device the scientist slipped on us?_

_**Yeah. What do you want to bet that sorry son of a gun is following the signal of that tracking beacon? Time to see if I'm right.**_

Drawing the tiny device from his extradimensional pocket, Taylor flung it into a dumpster as he passed it, and then took up a post on the opposite wall. The symbiote quickly camouflaged them as part of the wall, and they waited for their prey.

The green and black clad man landed on the ground only a few feet away, and started checking the dumpster. Upon finding the tracer, he swore quietly, and climbed back up the wall. Taylor watched him go, quietly seething inside.

_**Looks like we didn't fool that scientist after all. Well, it was worth a shot, and at least now we know that the new guy isn't Parker.**_

_Better yet, we can give him over to Fury, and get him off of our back._

_**Amen to that.**_

Taylor activated his communicator.

"_Fury. We have some news about that guy you wanted us to follow."_


	10. Chapter 10

**A FEW HOURS LATER...**

"So the new hero in the area was actually some jerk hired to follow you? Creepy."

Kali's comment was made around a mouthful of Taylor's homemade spaghetti. He could not help but grin. The two had the lair to themselves for the next few nights, as Goat Eyes wanted to visit a friend from another tribe near Central Park.

"Yeah, but it's okay now. Fury's got him, and he'll get everything he wants to know out of the guy."

"How can you be so sure? The guy might not talk."

"Oh please! They've got chemicals that could make a boulder sing the opera. Trust me, they can make one bozo tell his life story, if they want to. I'm done worrying about it. I managed to kill two birds with one stone, anyway. I completed the mission, fairly efficiently, I might add, and got rid of that tracking beacon at the same time. The rest is Fury's problem."

As if summoned by his name, Taylor's communicator started beeping. Taylor scowled, and assumed his battle costume. Pulling the earpiece from his pocket, he snarled _**"Go ahead, Fury. We hear you."**_

"Sorry to interrupt yer dinner, kid, but we got us a situation. Get topside fast. I've got a car waitin' fer ya."

"_**Copy that. Out."**_

He turned to Kali, his mask retracting to reveal a sheepish looking Taylor.

"Sorry sweetheart."

Kali stood up from the table, and came over to give him a kiss that he felt all the way to his toes.

"Just come back to me in one piece. I have plans for you, mister."

The symbiote assumed the appearance of a Marine in dress blues. Giving a sharp salute, He said "Ma'am, yes ma'am!"

**SHIELD HEADQUARTERS**

Taylor looked into the room, feeling a kind of sick dread. The man in the green and black costume was sitting in the chair, surrounded by technicians. The costumed man was dead, and appeared to have been dead for quite some time, as did the technicians. Even Taylor's other shuddered, making his skin crawl. He shook his head, and turned to Fury.

"_**Super ebola? Do we even want to know how this came about?"**_

Fury chewed the end of his unlit cigar, his one eye blazing with anger.

"Unauthorized weapons program. President found out about it, and went apeshit. Had it shut down."

"_**Looks like he missed one. This man was following us with the help of that tracking device we gave you. You know what that means."**_

"Yep. It means you get to go back, and this time you are fully authorized to clean house. Keep the body count to a minimum, though. I want arrests, not body bags."

"_**It will be our pleasure, sir. It will be our pleasure. Does this mean we finally get a badge?"**_

Fury's one eye blinked.

"Finally get a badge? You should have been issued one when you got your uniform."

This time it was Taylor's turn to blink.

"_**We were supposed to get a uniform?"**_

Fury began massaging his temple, feeling the onset of a headache.

"Go down to the supply room, and tell that idiot that I said you are to be issued a set of uniforms, a badge with identification, and a sidearm. If you are not issued these items, you have him call me. If he won't call me, then you will call me, and I will personally bury my foot in his lazy ass!"

Taylor stood there for a moment, seriously considering arguing about the sidearm, but decided against it, not wanting to be yelled at anymore. Having finally got back into Fury's good graces, it seemed simpler to just agree with the man, and do as ordered.

Soon, Taylor was dressed, armed with a knockout gas pistol, and staring at his new SHIELD identification badge as a SHIELD jet carried him off to his assignment. A holographic image of his face looked back at him. The card also had his name, rank, and other pertinent information on it.

_**From fugitive to SHIELD agent in just a couple of weeks. How freaky is that?**_

Soon it was time to deploy from the jet, and when the other agents lined up behind him, Taylor could not help feel a certain amount of pride. One of the men offered him a jet pack. Taylor's response was to grin, assume his battle outfit, complete with glider wings, and dive out of the cargo bay door.

_**Mr. Scientist, I am about to seriously wreck your day!**_

They landed just inside the front gate of the facility. Taylor retracted his wings, and turned to his men.

"_**Okay. Shuck your jet packs, and get ready to rumble. Be ready to run, though. These guys like playing with biological weapons, so if you get even a hint of something off, run like the wind. Ready?"**_

Receiving nods all around, he turned and entered the building, retracting his other as he did so. Walking along in his SHIELD uniform made him walk just a little bit taller, and the smile on his face was just a little bit smug. The idea of turning the tables on his tormentor was a delicious thing.

Taylor's smile began to fade as he realized that the complex seemed to be abandoned. His other was snarling by the time they reached the scientist's office.

_Taylor, if that man has skipped out on us, I will hunt him down and kill him._

_**If he's skipped out on us, I may just let you do it.**_

Taylor opened the door to the office, and nearly choked on what he saw. The floor was littered with bodies, in varying states of decay. He assumed his battle outfit.

"_**Back off! Everybody out now! Now! Get Fury on the horn, and tell him we want a decontamination team in here, and quarantine this facility."**_

With orders issued and being relayed, Taylor resigned himself to the fact that he would not be able to go home for a while. Deciding to make himself useful, he headed off to the main laboratory. He was quite surprised to see the man he had come to find, sitting quite comfortably on the examination bed.

"Hello, Mr. Stevens. I was beginning to think you weren't going to be coming back. The 'angry symbiote parent' trick was clever, by the way. What was the real purpose of all that, if you don't mind my asking?"

"_**We were gathering evidence. We work for SHIELD now, and you are under arrest for treason."**_

The man smiled maliciously.

"Am I now? Well then, I suppose you'd better take me in."

Taylor felt his neck hairs stand up.

_**Okay. He is WAY to eager for me to grab him. Is someone else in here?**_

_No. We're alone. Let's not touch him. He smells funny._

_**Funny how?**_

_Funny as in sick. He smells diseased. He's done something to himself. Become a plague carrier, perhaps? Immune to what he carries, but deadly to any who touch him. He's clever enough to try it._

_**Clever my eye! That's insane!**_

_True, but it would explain the scene in his office._

Taylor activated his communicator.

"_**Sergeant Milton, we have the target, but we need a team in here to take him. He's contaminated himself with something nasty. Noone else comes into this place without full NBC gear."**_

Awaiting a response, and receiving none, Taylor tried again. He backed out into the hallway, and saw all his men. They were all dead, and beginning to rot. Saying a quick prayer for the men, he turned his attention back to the scientist.

"_**You sick bastard. What did you do?"**_

The man's smile did not even waver.

"It was quite simple, actually. We had enough data from your first stay here to make an airborne toxin that would render any symbiote dead within minutes. Then we worked the other side of the equation, and found one that would kill anything except a symbiote. From that, we branched off into making our own symbiotes. They're not as smart as yours, and not quite as powerful, but they are still young. They'll grow in time, and I'm certain they'll match anything you can do."

Taylor shivered, and felt a growing sense that he was not alone. The dawning realization of what he had just been told struck him like a fist.

"_**You have a symbiote now."**_

A sickly green slime began to seep out of the man's pores.

"Very good, Mr. Stevens. You catch on quickly. It's a pity that you're obsolete now. Your experience would have been useful in training the others."

Swallowing thickly, Taylor said _**"Others? How many did you create?"**_

"My own, plus four others. The rest didn't survive long enough to bond to a host."

The man's transformation was nearly complete. Taylor had the feeling that once it was, the conversation would be over. Dreading the fight that would come after, Taylor tried to relax into the ready stance that his mother had taught him. The green symbiote stood up, it's transformation finished.

"_You may call us... Plague. It seems fitting, we think."_

"_**We'd rather call you something not repeatable in polite company. You do realize what will happen if you and the others start spawning. A new Synoptic will be born, and the human race will be finished. The group mind will own this planet."**_

A knowledge came into Taylor's mind, unbidden, and he suddenly knew where all the surviving symbiotes were relative to his position. He could almost hear a kind of whispering from each of them, and felt his other's revulsion.

"_**Vile, unnatural abominations! Fire and screaming to you all!"**_

The next few minutes blurred for Taylor as he tried to defend himself against four enraged symbiotes, all of whom wanted nothing more than to beat him into bleeding unconsciousness.

They succeeded.

**SHIELD HELICARRIER**

Taylor came to wakefulness, and immediately wished he hadn't. His groan echoed strangely, and he opened his eyes to see the room where he lay. It did not take him long to figure out that he was in the quarantine section of the helicarrier. Taking stock of his situation, he found that his ribs had been taped up, and there was a brace on his right knee. The bruises that covered his arms and torso looked deep, and had that dark purple that faded out into yellowish green.

"Great. I'm a walking war wound."

Kali's voice came from the window.

"At least you're alive, Taylor. Goat Eyes was worried you might not wake up."

Staggering over to the big window, Taylor placed a hand on it, wishing he could hold his lover.

"My question is, why did I wake up at all? I thought I was history when those other guys started kicking the crap out of me. Oh, and in case I ever forget about this incident, remind us never to mouth off when we're outnumbered. It just isn't a good idea at all."

"Please don't joke about it, baby. You've been out for days, and Fury says you came close to being infected with something fatal to your other skin."

Taylor shuddered, and directed a question inward.

_**Hey. You okay, buddy?**_

_Yes, Taylor. I'm alright. Just tired from trying to heal your injuries. You need to eat. Soon._

_**No problem there, but how in the heck did we survive that nightmare?**_

_The others got careless. While they were trying to snap your spine, they threw us into a canister that had the symbiote killing toxin. I had to direct our movements, and I made a choice. I threw the canister, and ran for the door. I sealed the room on the way out, and pulled us out to the front door. I called for Fury, and relayed the situation. He came to get us, and sterilized the area._

_**Sterilized?**_

_Wide beam microwave emitters. Everything within five hundred feet of that building is gone. The ground itself will no longer support life of any kind._

Taylor closed his eyes, sighing in a combination of relief and regret.

_**So Plague and the others are gone for good?**_

_Nothing made it out of that lab, Taylor. On the way out of the room, I hit the panic button. The lab sealed up tight, and filled with fire. After thirty seconds of flame, the halon system triggered. Nothing living could withstand that. Not even a symbiote._

_**Fair enough. The idea of Plague getting loose gives me the shivers.**_

"Is there any chance I could get some food? I'm starved."

Kali's eyes grew shiny with tears, and she nodded before running off to find a doctor.


	11. Chapter 11

**ONE MONTH LATER...**

Taylor lay back in the webbing hammock that he had spun, Kali rolling over to lay her head on his chest. He was enjoying the last of his time off from work. Fury had called him with his next assignment, which was to begin the next day. He was just beginning to regain some of the weight he had lost because of his other burning up resources to heal what should have been life threatening injuries, and his gaunt appearance was gradually being replaced by his usual, more healthy one.

"Taylor?"

"Hmm?"

"You know I love you, right?"

Sensing he wasn't going to like what he was about to hear, he nevertheless said "Yeah. I like it when you remind me, though."

Kali giggled quietly, and snuggled up into him.

"I was just wondering. You seemed kind of out of it today. Ever since Fury called you, in fact."

"Just remembering my last assignment. Horrific stuff, you know?"

He felt Kali shudder against him as she recalled some of what he told her about it.

"You don't have to keep doing this, you know. Fury can't expect you to keep doing stuff like that."

Taylor smirked.

"Oh, yes he can! What I went through was horrible, but it ain't nothing compared to some of the stuff Fury's seen and done. The man is a Vietnam veteran, for crying out loud! I don't even want to know what his nightmares are like. Mine are bad enough."

Kali pounded a fist on his chest.

"That's what I'm talking about, baby! You've had nightmares every night for a month! If it's this bad now, what's it going to be like a year from now? You'll be ready for a padded cell by then. If you even live that long. I keep having nightmares about Fury standing at the door, giving me the 'Madam, we regret to inform you' speech. I want you, Taylor, not a speech and a damn flag on the wall."

Taylor digested that information, and came to a decision.

"Actually, sweetheart, they only give a flag to a spouse or blood relative."

Kali's eyes widened in shock at his words.

"Are you serious? You mean to tell me that if you died on a mission, I wouldn't even get a damned flag to remember you by?"

"You would if you were my wife."

"Well, yeah, but I'm not your wife."

Taylor reached into his pocket, and pulled out the small box he had bought the day before. Handing it to Kali, he whispered "Would you like to be?"

Kali nearly choked as she realized what was happening. Her eyes became shiny with unshed tears as she opened the box. She looked back at her lover's face.

"Why?"

Taylor gave her an incredulous look.

"Taylor, you can't marry me."

"Why not? I love you, and I can't think of anyone I'd rather spend the rest of my life with."

Kali shook her head.

"You just don't understand. We could never get married. It just wouldn't work."

Taylor closed his eyes, trying to ignore the fact that he felt as if someone had just carved something out of his chest.

"I see."

He rolled off of the webbing hammock, and stood up stiffly. His symbiote cloaked him in his battle outfit. Kali noticed it had grown spikes since the last time she had seen it. She started to reach out to him, to touch his shoulder, and try to take some of the sting out of her words. Before she could explain what she meant, a smaller face appeared, complete with fangs, and hissed menacingly at her hand. She drew back with a gasp of fear.

"_**We're going on patrol, Kali. We'll be back later."**_

She watched as he leapt to the ceiling, and crawled away. She knew she had hurt him, but she had a feeling it would be a while before he would hear anything she had to say on the matter. She began to cry, silently rocking back and forth. It was several minutes before Goat Eyes found her, and took her in his arms.

"Hush now, girl. You just hush now. He don't understand yet, and he's hurtin' bad right now. When he gets back, we'll have a sit down talk, and get everything explained out. Okay?"

Kali nodded, sniffling, and headed off back to the lair. Once there, she went into the bedroom she shared with Taylor, curled up on the bed, and tried very hard not to think that she might have just lost the man she loved.

**UPWORLD**

Taylor was not thinking of Kali's rejection as he ran across the rooftops. He was not thinking of how much his chest hurt, or even of what he might say when he went back to the lair. All he was thinking of right then was that he wanted to smash the intruder in his territory. Taylor was running full tilt, dodging, leaping, and even web swinging when necessary, trying to run down the creature that had made the unfortunate mistake of coming into his turf.

Toxin, the creature in question, was trying his damnedest to stay just one step ahead of the enraged symbiote that was chasing him.

"_Calm down, kid! It was a mistake! Just let me explain!"_

"_**Calm down?! First, you invade our territory, then you mistake us for that moron Spiderman, and then you have the nerve to tell us to calm down?! We are going to turn you into a splat mark on the street, you two-toned slime monkey!"**_

Toxin turned around to face his pursuer, a retort on his lips, when the aforementioned Spiderman plowed into the white symbiote, sending him sliding across the gravel. He was about the thank the web-slinger when Taylor stood up, growling with barely contained rage. The hate in the hissed "spiderman" was enough to make Toxin realize he had inadvertently walked into some kind of personal feud. His cop instincts reasserted themselves, and he stepped between them before violence could ensue.

"_Hold it, you two. Spiderman, I'm grateful for the save, but this whole misunderstanding was sort of my fault. One, I didn't realize there was another symbiote in the area, and two, I mistook him for you in the shadows. Since he obviously doesn't like you for some reason, I can understand him being ticked off."_

"_**We don't like him because he is treacherous, murdering scum!"**_

Spiderman sputtered with outrage.

"What?! I can't believe you're still going on about that! You are not dead! You're standing right here! If you were dead, you couldn't be standing here screaming at me, could you?"

The symbiote peeled back from Taylor's face. His voice was still partly the symbiote's, however.

"_**Hello?! I flatlined, you sorry bastard! I died on the table, and it happened because you stuck your nose where it didn't belong, jumped to the wrong conclusion, and then got all self righteous! What if Richards hadn't had that life support system? What then? Are you telling me you wouldn't have torn off my symbiote then?"**_

Toxin slowly turned his gaze to Spiderman, hoping to hear some kind of denial of the charge laid against the man. The denial not forthcoming, Toxin then turned to Taylor.

"_Young man, I am truly sorry for what's happened here tonight. I hope we can put aside any hard feelings, and learn to get along. Especially since parts of our territories overlap. There's no sense in our clashing every time we meet, just because of a territorial pissing contest."_

Taylor blinked, and his costume shifted into his usual civilian attire.

"Uh, okay. Sure. Hell, I'm sorry too. I guess I did kind of overreact when I saw you. Sorry. It's been kind of a rough night."

Toxin nodded his acknowledgment of the apology, and then turned to Spiderman.

"_Come on, Web Head. Let's get off this guy's turf. He's had enough of our company."_

Once they reached the edge of Taylor's protectorate, Toxin called a halt, and hunkered down on the ledge.

"_He flatlined? What happened?"_

Spiderman sighed heavily, and joined Toxin on the ledge.

"When I came to check up on him, he was beating up a morlock. Leader of a local tribe, in fact. I just assumed his symbiote had ate his mind, and I blasted him with Reed's sonic gun. I got him back to the lab, and we went to work on him, trying to free him from the symbiote. They both fought us, but we got it off of him. It was traumatic, though. For a few seconds, he actually was dead on the table. Reed's machines kick-started him, and kept him going. His girlfriend showed up, talked to Reed's wife, and they set the thing loose. It grabbed the kid, they rebonded, and the rest is history. He's hated me ever since. Probably hates Reed too, seeing as how he's just as responsible as I am. Reed's just got sense enough to stay away from the kid. I can't seem to stay out of his face, and it makes him want to tear mine off. Thanks for talking him down, by the way. I could probably take him in a fight, but I get a weird vibe off of him. I get the impression that he's one of those ones that would make it a really pyrrhic victory. Just a feeling."

"_I'd rather not test that."_

"_**Nor would I."**_

The voice behind them caused them both to whirl around. Standing at the very edge of what he considered his turf, Taylor made himself visible.

"_**We almost forgot to ask you, brother. What do we call you?"**_

"_Toxin. What do I call you?"_

"_**Our human host is called Taylor. We have not chosen a symbiotic name yet. We've noticed that you superhero types tend to get the crap kicked out of you on a regular basis. Usually right after you announce your fancy new superhero name."**_

Toxin and Spiderman gave each other a look. Neither could really argue the point, but neither was willing to reveal his identity to the general public, either. Taylor did not seem to care who knew, and the devil take the consequences.

"_**Toxin? If it's alright with you, could we speak to you again later? Just us? There are things we'd like to talk to you about. Things only another symbiote would understand."**_

The red and blue symbiote seemed taken aback.

"_Uh, okay. Sure. I'll catch up with you later then."_

Taylor watched the two other heroes swing away, and felt a profound sense of loneliness. Turning around, he cast his gaze out over the rooftops of his protectorate. Everything seemed peaceful enough that night. Deciding to call it an early night, he made his way back to the lair.

He dreaded having to face Kali and Goat Eyes. As he wandered back to the tunnel where the lair was located, he caught the unwelcome sight of Mack, Kelpie, and Pinhead. His irritated snarl caused all three to whirl in his direction.

"_**What do you want, tribe leader? We warn you, if this has to do with Kali or Goat Eyes leaving your tribe, we are going to have blood on the floor of this tunnel." **_Turning to Pinhead, he said _**"And you. If you even look at Kali cross-eyed, we will blind you."**_

Mack raised his hands in a placating gesture.

"Easy! We just came to talk. Kelpie said she had something she wanted to ask you. I'm just here to look out for her."

Curiosity filled him. What could be so important that they would risk a fight with him? Was it worth finding out? Feeling that maybe delaying the confrontation with Kali for a few minutes wasn't such a bad idea, he nodded to Kelpie. She looked at Mack, who also nodded.

"Well, I was wondering if you could help me with something. You get all kinds of stuff from upworld, and I was wondering if you could get something for me. I can trade for it."

Feeling thoroughly enthused about the idea, Taylor nodded, and went into his "casual outfit."

"Okay. What did you want, and what do you want to trade for it?"

Kelpie squirmed a bit, looking thoroughly uncomfortable.

"Well, I'm sort of pregnant. I need more light. I heard from the lizards that you brought some really big lamps down here. I need them so I can get enough light to have my baby."

Taylor blinked at the revelation. Shaking his head to clear out the cobwebs, he said "Okay. What do you have to trade for the sun lamps?"

Reaching into the large bag sitting on the floor next to her, she pulled out what looked like a robotic arm of some kind. After a moment of examination, Taylor stood up straight, shivering. His symbiote slithered back over him, sporting a huge grin.

"_**We have a bargain. Give us a moment to get the sun lamps."**_

Palming the lock on the door, he strode into the lair as if he owned the world. He went right past Goat Eyes, who took one look at him and immediately started grinning. Kali watched, thoroughly confused, as Taylor dismantled all the sun lamps and carried them back outside the lair. He came back in with an unfamiliar piece of technology, tossed it to Goat Eyes, and then headed straight for Kali.

She watched as his other skin slithered into a white tee shirt and grey sweats, and shook her head.

"What on earth was that all about?"

"Why did you say you couldn't marry me?"

Kali's eyes widened, not expecting the sudden subject change.

"Taylor, you'd never find anyone who'd be willing to perform the ceremony. No priest, no minister, no rabbi, no justice of the peace, noone. You can pass for normal, but all they have to do is take one look at me, and it will never happen. I didn't mean that I don't want to, because I do. It's just not possible."

Taylor seemed to thrum with a kind of happy energy.

"What if I said I've already found someone willing and able to do the wedding? Would you say yes then?"

"Well, I suppose so, but where in the world did you find someone to do it?"

Taylor's smile was infectious, and she found herself grinning along with him. He chuckled, and said "Never underestimate a symbiote, milady." She giggled happily as he embraced her.

**TWO MONTHS LATER...**

Taylor stood in the waiting room of Stark Industries, his other having taken the form of a sharp looking three piece suit. Kali said it made him look very handsome. Goat Eyes said all he needed was a felt fedora, and he'd look like a young mobster. A very pretty red headed woman came into the room.

"Mr. Stark will see you now, Mr. Stevens."

She escorted him into an office that seemed to be a combination of pure luxury, and pure technology. Taylor could not help the soft whistle of appreciation. The red head smirked slightly, and spoke to the dark haired man behind the desk.

"Is there anything else, Mr. Stark?"

Stark grinned mischievously, and drawled "No, Ms. Potts. I think we're good for now."

Taylor noted that Stark's eyes were glued to the woman's backside the entire time it took her to leave the office. Once she was out, Stark's eyes traveled across Taylor, who had the distinct impression he was not being judged so much as dissected. It made him decidedly uncomfortable.

"So, Pepper tells me you had some old fashioned horse trading you wanted to do. I'm not much for horses, mind you, but I was curious. What did you have in mind?"

Taylor reached into his dimensional pocket, and pulled out the robotic looking arm. After Stark's initial evaluating look, seeing the man's eyes widen with stunned shock made him feel a bit better. Stark tried to cover his shock, and near-growled "And where did you get that interesting piece of tech?"

"Well, I suppose you could say I've been making friends in low places. My question to you is 'What is it worth to you?'"

A look of mild disgust crossed Stark's face.

"How much money do you want for it? I'm sure I can offer something equitable for it."

Taylor shook his head, and prepared to deliver his pitch.

"It isn't money I'm after. I need your technological expertise, Mr. Stark. Normally, I'd be going to Reed Richards, but at the moment, I trust him about as far as I trust a scorpion not to sting it's prey. Besides, I've heard that your tech is usually a lot more user friendly, so I came to you."

"Nice to be appreciated, but what exactly is it that you're after?"

"A home, Mr. Stark. While I love my current lair, the fact is it really doesn't have the room for a family. You see, about a year ago, I was bonded to an alien symbiote. Within the next few months, I'm going to be wanting to build a nest for my other's offspring. I just don't have the room where I'm currently living. Besides, my current place has a rather bad history with the locals."

Stark's expression was a study in disbelief.

"Are you seriously telling me this? You're possessed by some kind of alien, and you want me to play real estate agent for you? You're kidding, right?"

"No, Mr. Stark. I'm not. I know you're familiar with the symbiotes. You helped create the weapons that get used against my kind. According to the labels on the stuff at a lab I spent some time in, you helped to build a lot of the stuff I got tortured with shortly after my bonding. I'm not just some punk kid asking for favors, Stark. I'm one of your victims asking restitution. Still think I'm joking?"

The expression on Stark's face let Taylor know he had hit home with that last comment. He seemed to chew things over for a few seconds.

"Okay. A big house, with a good sized nursery for you and the little alien, and it's gotta be in a good neighborhood. Anything else? A mini-van, maybe?"

"Funny. If you're going to be that way about it, I could always just sell this thing on E-bay. My terms aren't all that unreasonable. I guess I shouldn't expect you to understand the desire to protect young."

Stark looked like he was ready to start screaming. Taylor could see the strain on the man to keep his voice even.

"Stevens, we could trade insults and barbs all day, but I have better things to do. What is it you really want? And please don't give me that cockamamie story about a bigger house."

Taylor nodded, glad that Stark had figured out what he really meant.

"We want upgrades to our lair. We aren't really interested in uprooting our fiancé and her foster father. Besides, with the both of them being Morlocks, neither is really interested in a house on the hill. What we want, truthfully, is an expansion and upgrading of all systems in the lair, as well as a few additional rooms so that we may nest in safety. The truth is, while we could probably guilt Richards into doing it, once he found out why we need the extra space, he would only attack us again. We owe his wife our life, and would rather not have to explain why her husband got carved up like a jack-o'-lantern."

Tony Stark was many things, but stupid was not one of them.

"I'm guessing you want a bit more security around this lair of yours, as well?"

"Yes. It was one of the Green Goblins former hideouts. It's already fairly secure, but there are ways it could be brought down on top of us, and with our family there, and offspring on the way, that is unacceptable. We want our family safe, Mr. Stark. At all costs."

The fact that the gears were turning in Stark's mind was obvious. The knowledge gave Taylor the confidence to do what he did next. Allowing his other to cover him in his "battle outfit," and remained as motionless as possible.

"_**Tony Stark, we know about your dual identity. We have known for some time. It is not blackmail, or greed, or any malicious intention that brings us here. We are here to ask for your help. If you say you will not help us, then we will go. The device we brought with us will be left here, and your identity will be safe. Unlike other heroes we could name, we do not betray. Will you help us protect our family?"**_

"How did you know?"

"_**We have known since we entered the room. Your smell was too strong on the inside of the gauntlet. You didn't just make it. You've worn it. Recently. Perhaps we're not going about this the right way. We are not a hero. We are merely a bonded pair trying to protect what we care about most. We were hoping you could help us."**_

"You know, there's not many so called heroes that would ask for help."

"_**As we said, we are not a hero."**_

"Eh, we'll see. So where do I need to bring the stuff?"

"_**Then you'll do it? You'll help us?"**_

The smile on Stark's face was a study in mischievousness, and it made Taylor a touch uneasy.

"Yeah. I'll do it. I was getting kind of bored lately anyway. I need a project to get occupied with."

Taylor stared incredulously at the man.

"_**You've got to be joking. Being Iron Man is boring?"**_

"Kid, if you do it long enough, anything can get boring. I need something new to play with."

"_**Then allow us the pleasure of inviting you to our home for an opportunity to play."**_

**THE LAIR...ONE DAY LATER**

Taylor surveyed the look of his new and improved lair. Kali was relaxing in the hot tub, and Goat Eyes was puttering around in his green house. He wandered throughout the lair, taking stock of what had been added or altered. The kitchen had been upgraded only a little, having a new stove and refrigerator put in on one side, and a dishwasher put in next to the sink. The bedroom had barely been touched, but a new bedroom had been carved out of the bedrock for Goat Eyes, complete with separate bathroom. Two other rooms had also been carved out. One was the nursery Taylor had asked for, and the other a meditation room. It was to this room that he found himself drawn.

Kali found him going through a graceful, almost dance-like, martial arts form. She stared for a moment, watching his naked form going through the motions, his eyes closed in concentration.

"Wow. You haven't taught me that."

"It's a special kata," he said without breaking form. "My mother taught me."

Ending his meditation, his other cloaked him in a white tee shirt and blue jeans. He opened his eyes, and grinned at her.

"Something on your mind, sweetheart?"

She tossed him his ear phone.

"That Fury guy called about five minutes ago. He wants you to call him back 'at his earliest convenience.' Which means something weird is going on. He's usually not that nice."

Taylor winced, and fit the ear phone on his right ear.

"Fury, this is Stevens. You wanted to talk to me?"

Fury's voice was strangely calm, and his tone was overly polite.

"_Agent Stevens. I need you to return to the helicarrier immediately. I have a new assignment for you."_

"Yes sir. Meet at the usual place?"

"_Affirmative. Fury out."_

Taylor's mind whirled into motion, and he did not like what he came up with. He strode past Kali, heading for their bedroom. Opening the closet, he pulled out his SHIELD uniform and put it on. Kali, who had followed him into the room, looked bewildered.

"You're not going to wear your other skin?"

"Not until we know what's going on. I want to keep the rest of me as an ace in the hole. Fury was way too polite, and he called me 'Agent Stevens.' That's not what he usually calls me. Something's up, and until we know what, we'll go in playing human. Don't wait up, baby."

Kali caught his arm as he walked past, and gave him a very thorough kiss.

"Be careful, Taylor. I love you."

He ran a finger lovingly down one cheek, and then walked purposefully out the door.

**SHIELD HELICARRIER**

The car ride had been unusually tense, and by the time Taylor got to the helicarrier, his muscles were like coiled springs. He wanted to release his other, but did not dare. As an agent led him into Fury's presence, an old reflex came back to him. He stood at parade rest, and waited for Fury to acknowledge him.

Fury, for his part, looked like he had not slept in days.

He pointed at a series of monitors, and Taylor grunted at what he saw.

"Plague. I was hoping I'd seen the last of him."

"So were we, Agent Stevens."

Taylor turned to look at Fury, an incredulous look on his face. He was shocked to see a strange looking pistol pointed at him.

"Uh, is there something I should know about, Colonel? I know I ain't the best agent in the world, but I hardly see that as a shooting offense."

"You are under arrest, Stevens. On orders from the President of the United States of America, you are to be held on charges of treason. You will be placed in a secure holding facility until such time as the creature in control of you can be separated from you."

Taylor felt as if someone had just punched him in the stomach.

"Fury, I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but this ain't funny. Part of the reason I joined SHIELD was to serve my country. Treason? I don't think so."

"It don't matter what you think, or what I think either. I have my orders. Come quietly."

The young man seemed to consider it for a few seconds.

"I don't think so."

He leapt, giving Fury a solid kick to the back of his head, and hit the deck running. His other slithered out, covering him, and then cloaked him from sight. The alarms came on, but Taylor was too fast. The agents that were taking position to capture him never saw him crawling along the ceiling above them. He made it as far as the upper deck before Fury's voice came over the ear phone.

"_Stop now, kid. Nobody has to get hurt."_

"_**We did not betray our country, Fury. We will not be killed for a crime we did not commit."**_

"_Then I'm sorry."_

As Taylor cleared the stairs and reached the open air, he saw just what it was Fury was apologizing for. Standing on the deck, in all his red and gold glory, was Iron Man. A repulsor ray caught Taylor right in the chest, blasting him back down the stairs. As he slid to a stop in the corridor, it occurred to him that perhaps having Stark do the upgrades to his home had not been such a good idea. As he sat up, the armored Avenger came down the stairs to stand over him.

"**Stay down, Stevens. Don't make me put you down."**

Fury's voice over his ear phone echoed the sentiment. Quite thoroughly sickened by the level of betrayal he felt, Taylor tore the ear phone off, and flung it at Iron Man. It bounced off his chest, and clattered to the deck.

"_**We can't believe we allowed you into our nest, Stark. Do you possess no loyalty at all?"**_

Stark said nothing.

"_**You also know what happens if they separate us. We'll die, Stark. Our bond is too strong for it not to happen again."**_

"**Shut up, Stevens."**

Sighing quietly, Taylor closed his eyes for a moment, centering himself, and then let loose with a barrage of webbing bursts. While Iron Man was trying to clear his faceplate, Taylor bolted past him back up the stairs. Once in the open air, he leapt as high as he could, grew wings, and soared down to the city below. He thought he was home free when he heard a sound that still haunted his nightmares.

Boot jets.

Reabsorbing the wings, Taylor dropped like a stone until he lashed out with a set of tendrils, and swung himself into a ninety degree turn. Using his momentum, he continued to web-swing until he came near a familiar subway station. Landing on the steps, he began to run, at the same time altering his other to civilian attire. He hopped down onto the tracks, and began the journey through tunnels, cracks, and finally caves until he reached the Abyss. From there, it wasn't far to his lair. He stopped a moment to catch his breath, and then headed home.

**THE LAIR**

Taylor was only a few feet from the door when Goat Eyes' voice sounded in his head.

_Taylor! Stay away, kid. There are a bunch of guys in funky armor in here waiting for you. They got Kali in the other room. They all got some weird kinda rifles._

_**Damn.**_

_What's goin' on, kid?_

_**Plague survived the incident at the lab, and they blame me. I'm a fugitive again. This time I'm wanted for treason. They mean to kill me. Can you do anything from where you are? Telepathic suggestion, maybe?**_

_Nah. I already tried that. Their helmets are protectin' 'em somehow._

_**Great. Now what do I do?**_

_Ya got me, kid._

Taylor spent about ten seconds agonizing over what to do, and then sighed.

"_**Fine. You men want us, then we'll come to you."**_

He palmed the door plate, and stood back. Bursts of sonic energy, while they didn't connect, set his teeth on edge. A quick tendril shot through the door grasped the first of the men, and yanked him into Taylor's waiting arms.

"_**Darling! Did you miss us?"**_

The rifle was smashed, the helmet was yanked off, and soon the man was sound asleep. Camouflaging himself, Taylor went in through the open door. Soon, all the armored men's helmets were off, and the men themselves were asleep. He helped Goat Eyes to his feet, and then headed for the bedroom he shared with Kali. Not bothering to hide himself, Taylor walked right in.

The armored man had Kali on her knees, with the rifle to her head. He was whispering into a small microphone. Taylor scowled.

"_**If you're talking to Fury, ask him a question for us."**_

The armored man stopped whispering, and in a deep voice said "Okay."

"_**Ask him how it feels to act like a terrorist. He's already tried to kill us, and he took my fiancé and her foster father hostage. Those are not the actions of a protector of the people. Those are the actions of a terrorist. We haven't killed anyone, and we are not a traitor, but we have seen death, and we have been betrayed."**_

The armored man relayed the question, and waited a few seconds. While he was distracted, Taylor fired off two tendrils, and yanked hard. The armored man lost both his helmet and his rifle. Then he lost his footing as Taylor pulled him off his feet.

"_**You know what? Never mind. We'll ask him ourselves."**_

He saw Taylor nod to Goat Eyes, and the room went black.


	12. Chapter 12

**TWO WEEKS LATER**

Fury chewed quietly on his cigar, sitting behind his desk. Natasha Romanov A.K.A. the Black Widow sat opposite him. She was used to his scowl, which she suspected was permanent, but not the thoughtful look in his eye. She decided to break the silence that pervaded the room.

"You have had no sign of him?"

"No. He emptied out his SHIELD account, and ran like hell. He didn't go back to Missouri, either. At least, not as far as we could tell."

Widow cocked her head to the side.

"And none of your people have been harmed?"

"Nope. Not even a black eye. And he hasn't been anywhere near his old lair. Not to collect the sheets, the green house gear, or even a dinner plate. That's why I called you. I want you to find him. Whatever means necessary. Understood?"

She nodded, and then asked "What about the other one? Plague?"

Fury shook his head.

"He's no longer a threat. We caught him a week ago, and he's being kept in a microwave cage. He won't be getting loose again."

Widow nodded again, and said "Then if there's nothing else, I'll begin my assignment."

**BENEATH THE LAIR**

"You know," said Kali, who was munching on potato chips. "It's a pity we didn't find out about this place sooner. We could have had Stark fix it up too."

Taylor, who was eating chocolates out of a sampler, shook his head.

"I'm glad we didn't. If Stark had known about this place, SHIELD would be tearing it apart too, trying to find us. Trying to find me."

She reached over and took his hand.

"You know what the worst part of all this is? It's not that I'm a fugitive again. I'm used to that. What really gets me is that any plans I had for us to have a real wedding just went up in smoke. The chaplain may be sympathetic, but he's still a SHIELD agent."

Kali set their snacks aside, and crawled into his lap, putting all her arms around him.

"Baby, I don't need some upworld ritual to tell me we belong to each other. That's not how we Morlocks do things."

A few minutes of serious necking later, Goat Eyes came back into the room.

"If you two can tear yourselves away from each other for a few seconds, I think I found the other way out of this place. Good thing, too. This little feast was the last of the food stored down here."

Taylor stood up, still holding Kali in both of his arms. Goat Eyes winced.

"Doesn't it hurt your back when you do that?"

Taylor shrugged.

"No. I can bench press about ten tons. I don't think lifting my lady is any trouble."

Goat Eyes grunted, and walked back out, motioning for the two to follow him. Taylor set Kali back on her feet, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, and followed the old mutant. What they found was a long tunnel with no lights. Taylor turned a skeptical look at Goat Eyes.

"How do you figure this is the way out?"

"Take a sniff, kid. You smell that? That's the ocean. We shouldn't be able to smell that down here, unless there's an opening near the water."

Taylor grinned, but his grin faded after a moment.

"Okay, say we get out of here. Then what? I'm a wanted criminal again. I don't have a whole lot of places to run. We could get out of the country, I guess, but I don't speak any other languages. Do you?"

"Never left New York before, kid. Your guess is as good as mine."

Following the tunnel was fairly easy. It was angled slightly downward, and the sides were smooth and free of any protrusions. It wasn't long before they reached the end, and came out in a room with metal stairs leading up into the open air. Taylor gasped at what they found when they stepped out into the sunlight.

"A boat. I don't believe it. We just found our ticket out of here, people. Get aboard, and let's get the hell out of here."

After a few minutes to familiarize himself with the controls, Taylor got the yacht under way, and headed south.

**THE ISLAND**

The trip to the Florida Keys took about a week, due to stops for food and fuel. Taylor was nearly out of funds by the time of the storm that blew them off course. The island they landed on was, at first glance, uninhabited. Making use of the laptop and global positioning system he found, he was able to figure out where they were. He came up to the main deck where Kali was sunning herself.

"Sweetheart, you aren't going to believe this. That damned storm blew us all the way out east of Grenada! We're in the Carribean! It's weird how quick we got down here though."

Kali didn't bother to open her eyes as she asked "Do you think it has anything to do with all those funky lights we saw during the storm? I know some of it was just lightning, but what about all the rest? I've never even heard of green and orange lightning before."

Taylor shook his head and shrugged.

"I have no idea. I was more concerned with keeping us afloat at the time. I'm no kind of sailor, and I'm certainly not as familiar with how to pilot a ship in a storm. I'm amazed we're even alive to talk about it. Speaking of which, how's Goat Eyes? He feeling any better?"

Kali shifted her position, and smirked, knowing that her lover would be staring.

"Yes. He's feeling a lot better. He was sleeping, last I saw. See something you like, lover?"

She could hear the smile in his voice as he rasped "Oh yeah. All this sunlight certainly has you in a mood. I could get used to this."

"Why don't you join me?"

The sound of a gun clicking off safety caused her to finally open her eyes.

"Receba as suas mãos para cima, cadela. Todos eles." ("Get your hands up, bitch. All of them.")

Taylor was standing there with his hands raised, and was motioning for Kali to do the same. Not bothering to put on her top, she did as he asked. All the men's eyes were on her, or more accurately, her chest. One of the men was reaching for her, grinning, when Goat Eyes came up the stairs from below.

"God damn, but my head is pounding! Where's the aspirin on this tub?"

They were the last words he ever spoke.

Four machine guns chattered, but could not drown out Kali's scream. She started to run over to Goat Eyes, but Taylor restrained her. She turned to look at his face, but he wasn't looking back. He was staring at the leader of the group, and his stare was cold. When he spoke, his voice was colder.

"Do you speak English?"

"Yes. I speak the American tongue."

"Good. I don't want you to misunderstand what I'm about to say to you. You are going to pay for that man's death."

"I do not think so."

Taylor's next words were not only cold, but inhuman. His symbiote voice.

"_**We do."**_

Kali could never say for certain what she saw. All she knew was that one moment, Taylor was beside her and human looking, the next moment, he was covered in his other skin, and all four of the men holding guns were dead or dying. Taylor was standing perfectly still, the blood of the men dripping off of his talons. She heard him speaking quietly.

"_**Lord and lady, watch over him, and let him know that which is your light and love. So mote it be."**_

Retracting his other skin, he turned to Kali.

"Get to shore. I'm going to grab some things, and then I'll light this funeral pyre."

Kali did as she was told, and hopped down into the water, wading in to shore. Soon, Taylor was with her, carrying a bag of supplies on one shoulder, and a bag holding the laptop on the other. The boat was going up in smoky flame. Kali tried to hold in her tears as she asked him the question that was plaguing her.

"Now what do we do?"

Taylor pulled her into his arms and held her. He kissed her forehead, and said "Those men were not just hanging out here. They're based out of a house or something here on the island, I'm sure of it. I'm going to find them, and serve them their eviction notice. This island is our home now. Goat Eyes bought it for us with his life, and I'm not going to let anyone tell us otherwise. Are you okay with that? Can you live with me knowing how easy this comes to me?"

She leaned up, pulling his mouth to hers, and kissed him hungrily.

"Do what you have to, baby. Just don't leave me alone when you're done."

She sat on the beach, watching the tides, and ignoring the sounds of gunfire and screaming that came from not all that far away. It didn't really surprise her that Taylor was good at killing. What surprised her was what it took to get him to kill at all. She really didn't understand his religion, even though he had tried to explain it to her. She had killed before, and would probably do it again if needed. She knew the venom in her fangs was lethal, and her strength was more than a match for any human. Granted, she didn't have anywhere near Taylor's speed, but she very nearly matched him in sheer brute strength. He'd commented once on the spinnerets on her back, but only because those were the only ones he noticed. She actually had them in all her wrists, as well as in both ankles. She hadn't used them for so long, she wasn't even certain they still worked. It didn't matter, as far as she was concerned. She was a woman, not a damned spider.

Taylor came back over the hill he'd disappeared over only an hour before. There was no blood on him, but his face was a study in neutrality. He tossed her a tee shirt that slits in the sides for her arms. She looked at him in confusion.

"Come meet the previous tenants, sweetheart."

Kali blinked once.

"They're still alive?"

Taylor nodded, and whispered "I've done enough damage for one day. The guy in charge is some kind of big shot drug dealer. The house is huge, and there is a plate in the living room with enough cocaine on it to overdose half of Missouri. I've got everyone webbed up on the front porch. I thought you'd like to see them before I sent them on their merry way."

"Okay."

They trudged over to where eight men were hanging upside-down in webs on the front porch. One of the men was sobbing, the youngest, judging by his appearance. A slightly older man was staring angrily at Taylor. He spoke with barely a trace of accent.

"I will kill you for this. You don't know who you're fucking with."

Taylor morphed into his battle outfit, complete with the new spikes.

"_**No, you won't. You are going to go away from this island, forever. Your only other option is to hang there until we get hungry. You make the choice. Flee, or be eaten. You should know that we like live prey. We might just keep the young one there. He seems tender enough to make a good meal."**_

Getting the gist of Taylor's plan, Kali smiled maliciously, and stalked up to the leader.

"Oh, I don't know, love. This one could be interesting. He might put up a bit of a fight before he dies."

Her stare, combined with Taylor's calm threats, finally did the trick. The men were more than eager to leave. They all piled into a large cabin cruiser, and sailed off as fast as the boat could go. Once they were gone, Kali and Taylor got down to some serious exploring of the house and grounds. The island was not actually all that large. It was roughly seven miles in diameter, with the mansion on the western coast. It had a dock, a pool, and it was soon discovered, a maid who had been left tied up on the bed with a ball gag in her mouth. The woman spoke no English, but Taylor was able to make it clear to her that he meant no harm. He released her, and called for Kali.

This was a mistake.

The woman immediately started shrieking in terror. Taylor backed away from her, pain from the high pitched screaming echoing from his symbiote to himself. He tried to talk soothingly to her, and when Kali handed her some clothing, she eventually calmed down. Frustrated with the language barrier, Taylor finally retrieved the laptop, and accessed the local network. He swiftly found a translator program, and typed out what he wanted to say to the woman.

(What is your name?)

Smiling tentatively, she said "Kyla."

(The men are all gone. They won't be coming back. Do you live here?)

Kyla took the laptop, and began typing. When she was done, she handed it back to Taylor, who read the response out loud.

"I have been here for two weeks. I work as a maid, but the boss liked me better as his whore. He was about to take me, but he heard his men screaming and shooting. He has not touched me, if you are worried about that. You can still take that."

As what she had said became clear, everything caught up to Taylor, and his stomach lurched violently. With crazed eyes, he looked around the room, and rushed through the other door into the bathroom. Barely getting the toilet open in time, he emptied the contents of his stomach. Kali followed him, and was rubbing his back as he shook in reaction to what he had done that day. She sighed as she realized he was going to be waking up screaming that night, assuming he ever got to sleep, and resigned herself to a long night.

Kyla peeked around the doorway, and handed the laptop to Kali. Looking at the screen, she saw a question had been asked.

(Why did he get sick? Does he not like girls?)

Kali couldn't help but snort with laughter. She typed out an answer to Kyla's questions.

(He likes girls just fine. He just doesn't like killing, or rape. He had to kill some men today, and he's never killed before. We both saw my foster father die today, and he killed the men who did it. Then you offer to let him rape you. My husband is a good man. He doesn't do those kinds of things.)

Kyla looked shocked as she read the screen. She pointed at Kali, then at Taylor, and then hooked her fingers together. Getting the message, Kali nodded. Taylor turned away from the toilet, shivering, and Kali turned back to him.

"Love? Are you going to be okay?"

"I'll live."

He reached up, and flushed away the evidence of his reaction.

"I'll be outside. I think I need some air. Get her dressed, and get her the hell off this island."

Kali was left blinking at the heat in his voice. He still sounded shaky, but it was an angry shaky. He stood up, rinsed his mouth out at the sink, and then walked out of the room on legs that trembled. She turned back to Kyla, and typed out (Do you have somewhere to go? A home?)

(No. Mr. Julio brought me here from a trip he made to Portugal. I had no home there. Mr. Julio saw me on the street corner, and he liked me. He was going to be my first. He said he needed a maid, and he wanted a pretty one. I knew what he really wanted. I was expecting it.)

Kali was beginning to feel a little ill herself. She typed out a response.

(Taylor wants you to leave, but I don't think he knows that you're homeless. Let me talk to him, and he might allow you to stay here with us. Just don't offer him sex again. He is my husband after all.)

Kyla nodded, grinning enthusiastically, and Kali went outside to find Taylor. She found him down by the dock, standing with his hands behind his back, staring off across the water, presumably at the cabin cruiser off in the distance. She came up behind him, and put her arms around his waist and chest, laying her cheek against his back.

"Baby?"

"Yeah?"

"Kyla can't leave the island. She's homeless. Can't she stay here with us?"

"Do you want her to?"

"Kind of. It'd be nice to have another girl to talk to."

She felt him sniff.

"That ought to be interesting. You do realize that one of you is going to have to learn the other's language if you want to hold a conversation. As far as I can tell, she doesn't speak English, and you don't speak Portuguese. Might be a challenge."

"Is that a yes?"

"As long as she stays the hell away from me, it's a yes. I don't know what it is, but something about her sets my teeth on edge. I understand she's got some problems, and I don't mind helping. I just don't trust her."

"Okay. Can she keep the laptop? She can use it to learn English."

"Sure."

Kali smiled in relief, but that smile vanished when he shrugged her arms off. His other coated him, and then began growing what looked like fins.

"Taylor? What's wrong?"

His inhuman growl told her he was supremely pissed off, and she took an involuntary step back.

"Sweety? You're scaring me. What's wrong?"

"_**They're turning around. There must be a stash of weapons on board that boat. They're coming back here to kill us. We are going to stop them. We'll be back shortly."**_

With that said, the angry symbiote dove into the water with barely a splash. Within minutes, Kali could just barely make out screaming and gunfire. She didn't think there would be any survivors this time. She squinted a bit, and the boat leapt into clarity. Shocked at the sudden discovery, she gasped. She could see everything that was happening on the deck of the boat. Once she focused on what was happening, she wished she hadn't looked. Taylor had just grabbed "Mr. Julio" by the neck, and lifted him into the air. She couldn't make out what Taylor was saying to the man, but a moment later, Taylor snapped the man's neck and cast him aside. The only other survivor was the young man who had been crying on the porch. She saw Taylor pick him up, and throw him overboard in the direction of the island. Another man came up from below deck, and aimed a machine pistol at Taylor, firing off a quick burst. Taylor went down, but didn't stay there. She didn't have to imagine his snarl of rage, having heard it quite clearly only a few moments ago. He got up, snatched the pistol away from the man, and buried it in the man's forehead.

Kali had to turn away then. She couldn't bear to watch anymore violence. It wasn't that she hadn't seen that sort of thing before, but she knew what it would do to Taylor. Her heart hurt for him, and she hoped he would recover, but knew that some part of him was dying with all the blood on his hands. A few seconds later, she heard an explosion. Looking up, she saw the boat in flames. Focusing her eyes again, she saw Taylor swimming back, dragging the young man behind him. As they got closer, she could hear the young human shrieking. Not screaming, but shrieking in abject terror.

"Now what?"

Climbing back up onto the dock, Taylor practically threw the boy to the metal grates that made up the floor of the dock.

"Why did you save him?"

"_**Because he has the eyes of an innocent. We have an idea, though. We will need hands to go to the main island for supplies and such. He and the girl could be useful. Besides, the more the merrier, wouldn't you agree? Of course, the girl might want company that looks a bit more human than you or ourselves."**_

"That sounds suspiciously like you have a plan."

"_**We do. There are things we wish to make. Things we want to build. We will need parts, but we think that showing our face on an island with an American military presence is not such a good idea. Therefore, he and the girl can be our public faces. Let them pretend to be the new Lord and Lady of the Manor, so to speak."**_

"Ah. I gotcha. Not bad, sweetheart. In the meantime, you and I can start customizing the island the way we want it to be. Right?"

"_**Precisely."**_

Turning to look down at the boy, Taylor morphed his other skin into a Hawaiian shirt and khakis, leaving his feet bare. Kneeling down to look the boy in the eyes, he asked gently "Do you speak English?"

"Little English."

Taylor nodded, and said quietly "My name is Taylor. What's your name?"

"Diego."

"Diego, why were you with those men? You're awfully young to be a drug lord's thug."

"My brother. You killed him. Why?"

Taylor sighed.

"Because he would have killed me and Kali. I gave him a peaceful way out, and he refused to take it. I let him go, and he decided to come back. He knew what would happen, and he chose to do it anyway."

"You kill him. Usted es un monstruo. Usted ambos son." (You're a monster. You both are.)

Kali perked up.

"That was Spanish! I speak some of that."

Taylor arched an eyebrow, and seemed to think for a moment.

"Okay. Translate for me as best you can. Here's the deal, Diego. Yes, my bride and I are monsters. We hunt down evil humans, and we destroy them. We came to this island to nest. Your brother was an evil man, so I killed him. You are alive because I believe that you can be better than your brother."

Kali translated, and Diego's expression turned from fear to confusion. She decided to add something to make sure Diego would listen to reason.

"Yo lo escucharía si fui usted. Usted ha visto lo que sucede cuando él se enoja." ("I'd listen to him if I were you. You've seen what happens when he gets angry.")

Diego's gulp was audible.

Taylor morphed into his battle outfit again, and spoke directly to Diego.

"_**This is your chance to do something greater than your brother has ever done. To serve a purpose other than yourself, and help your fellow humans. Do you think you can do that?"**_

Diego was struck speechless.

"_**You don't have to say anything right now. Just think about it. You can give us your decision tomorrow. If you wish to help us, you may stay here. If not, we will take you to the main island, and you can go wherever you wish. Agreed?"**_

The boy nodded, and Taylor's other skin retracted, showing his beaming smile.

"Excellent. Let's get back to the house. Those clouds are starting to worry me a little."

**SHIELD HELICARRIER**

Nick Fury had just spent the last ten minutes explaining to his superiors that while Taylor had managed to escape him, he had called in the very best to track the errant symbiote down. They had spent the past ten minutes telling him that they weren't taking failure as an option. Orders were issued, and the Avengers were to be called in once the tracker found him.

Black Widow sat across from him, and she looked less than pleased.

"We know he was headed south in that boat he found, but we lost him in the storm over Bermuda. The techs are saying that there were all kinds of magnetic and electrical distortions in that storm. We may not ever find him again, or he could reappear on the bridge of this helicarrier in the next ten minutes. I do not know."

Fury sighed dejectedly. This was not what he wanted to hear.

"Were they able to find any similar disturbances? He went in that storm, so he had to come out somewhere. That big of a magnetic field would magnetize every last piece of that boat. It was an Oscorp design, if I recall."

"Yes. The techs are currently looking for just that. Once they locate it, I'll move in and begin tracking him once more. It should only be a matter of time, sir."

Fury grunted, but said nothing more. He hoped it wasn't too long a time. He couldn't afford to delay what his superiors had in mind. Things could get out of control, and when they did, it tended to be quick.


	13. Chapter 13

**THE ISLAND**

Diego had not slept yet, and the sun was rising. El monstruos would want an answer from him, and he didn't believe that they would just let him go. He could hear the male screaming throughout the night, and it sounded like he was retching violently at one point. Perhaps the male was sick, or even dying? Could that be it? Had the monster come here to die in peace, and found it's island crawling with an unwanted infestation of humans? That put a different spin on things, and it meant that his brother had earned his death twice over. He had violated the sanctuary, and then attacked the rightful owners. If that were so, it meant that his family owed the creature a debt of honor. The male had tried to get Julio to leave peacefully, after all.

As the only male member of the family left alive, Diego decided that the debt fell to him. He could not let go of that. The monsters would not have come here if they didn't have prior claim to the island, and the fact that they offered him a way to work off the debt showed that they understood honor. He was a man, and would act as a man. He went to knock on the door of his new hosts.

Kali was just coming out of the bedroom when Diego came up to her. She held up a finger to her lips, and led him away from the door. She could see that he fought not to shy away from her touch, and drew her hand away from him.

"You've decided to stay, right?"

The boy's eyes widened.

"How did you know?"

She smiled gently, and whispered "Because if you really meant to leave us, you would have left last night in the other boat, or maybe in that helicopter out back. Either way, I'm glad you stayed. We really will need your help."

"My family owes you a debt. I will pay that debt. I will stay and help you."

"I'm glad to hear it. For starters, let's let my mate get some rest. He had nightmares all night, and I finally had to have Kyla bring up some of that booze from downstairs to knock him out. It took a lot of that to get him drunk enough to put him out. His other filters out a lot of stuff."

Diego understood enough to know what she meant by "other." He'd seen Taylor's transformation, and really didn't want to see it again. Considering that the male was already a monster, Diego shuddered to think of what he might have nightmares about. What would scare a monster that badly? Diego was certain that he didn't want to know. He lowered his voice, and said "What do you need me to do?"

Kali rubbed her temples tiredly. She hadn't slept well either. Taylor's thrashing about and screaming could have woken a corpse.

"I'm not really sure what his plans for you are. Mostly gathering things on the main island. He said there's a U. S. Army presence on the main island, and we'd rather not take the chance of being recognized. That's where you and Kyla come in. You two are going to be our hands, eyes, and ears. Taylor could probably do a lot of it himself, but he's not wanting to take any chances."

Diego could see the sense in that, and nodded sagely.

"I don't think we'll need you today, but try to stick close. When Taylor wakes up, he'll probably have a list of things he'll want you to pick up. A lot of electronics stuff, some basic hardware, and possibly another computer. He gave our laptop to Kyla to help her learn English. Neither of us speak Portuguese. Well, that's pretty much it for now, so I guess you can go enjoy the rest of the day."

Two hours later, Taylor was screaming himself awake once more. He sat up, shaking, and ran to the bathroom. A few minutes of dry heaving, and he sat back on the floor. Kali came in quietly, kneeling down next to him.

"If I never drink alcohol again, it will be too soon. You would not believe how much more vivid the nightmares get when you're drunk."

Kali groaned.

"Sorry, baby. It was all I could think of."

Taylor shook his head, and tried to stand up on legs that were shaking badly. Retrieving their bag, he pulled out his toothbrush, toothpaste, and mouthwash. After glancing at the alcohol content in the mouthwash, he set it aside, looking a bit green.

"I don't care if I'm dying of thirst. No more alcohol."

Kali nodded, and then said "Diego decided to stick around. I think he genuinely wants to help out. He didn't seem angry, at any rate. Kind of surprising, considering."

"As long as does what I ask of him, he can be as angry as he wants. I'm not looking to coddle him. I need a servant, and I need one I can trust. If he proves that I can trust him, then great. If not, I'll dump him in Grenada, and just get the stuff I need myself."

As he began to brush his teeth, Kali asked a question that had occurred to her.

"About that. How do you plan on getting all this stuff you say we're going to need? We're broke again, remember?"

Taylor spit out what was in his mouth, and looked in the mirror with a ghost of a smile.

"I take it you haven't checked out the basement yet."

"No. Why?"

Finishing up, he took her by the hand, and led her to the basement door.

"I know it's ill gotten gains, but when I saw just what was down here, I couldn't just get rid of it. There's too much to get rid of easily anyway."

Kali's eyes widened as she realized what he meant.

"How much money are we talking about?"

He shrugged, and said quietly "I'm not really sure. It's a big basement, and the money is stacked on big pallets. A lot of pallets. My best guess? At least a few billion."

"Billion? As in a thousand times a million?"

"I'm willing to bet on several thousand times a million. Math ain't my strong point, but I'm guessing there's about a hundred million dollars on each pallet."

"And how many pallets are there?"

He opened the door, and gestured her in. As she went carefully down the darkened steps, Taylor clicked the lights on. She stopped on the last step, her mouth gaping. Taylor came down behind her, shutting the door and locking it behind him.

"Taylor?"

"Yeah?"

"This is more than we could spend in ten lifetimes."

"Yup. I'll tell you something else, too. I don't think drugs was all our boy Julio was into, either. There's a few crates at the back with enough firepower in them to level half of New York. Maybe even all of it. They've got freaking plasma rifles in one of those crates. It ain't Stark technology either. Something called AIM. Whatever that is."

Kali shook her head slowly.

"Why wouldn't he put all this in a bank or something? The Cayman Islands aren't that far from here, are they?"

Taylor shook his head.

"I don't think he even wanted that much scrutiny. Now that I think about it, isn't AIM the name of that techno-terrorist group? Advanced Insane Mechanics, or something to that effect? Besides, having cash on hand is easier to hide than a transaction through the banks. Makes it a little easier to vanish when you need to, as well."

They spent the next few minutes discussing the in and outs of having a warehouse sized basement filled with cash, and then went back upstairs. In Taylor's case, he went outside to meditate through his martial arts. Kali, on the other hand, went in search of some paper and a pencil. She made a list of things she wanted to add to Taylor's shopping list.

By the end of the day, Taylor was certain that the list was as finished as it was going to get. Between indulging Kali's desires for snacks and decorations, and Taylor's list of technological components, the need for a cargo raft was a necessity. Taylor decided to accompany Kyla and Diego to Grenada the next day, in disguise, to ensure that everything they needed would be seen to. As he and Kali settled down to sleep that night, he felt a great swell of unease over his decision. As he drifted to sleep, he prayed that the nightmares would stay away.

_**Taylor?**_

_Yeah?_

_**Why do you hurt yourself like this?**_

_What do you mean?_

_**You know that what you're doing is necessary, but you guilt and agonize over doing it. Why don't you just accept it, and let it go?**_

_Forgive me for my respect for life._

_**Taylor, I respect life too, but those men needed to die. Hurting yourself over it is not only pointless, but counterproductive. You did the right thing. Those men would have harmed countless others. By destroying them, you saved lives.**_

_Maybe, but several men are dead. They lost their lives, and I'm the one who took them. I'm not a murderer. We've had this discussion before._

_**And we're having it again because you refuse to accept that you did what was needed. Let it go, Taylor. Your dreams were horrific enough after dealing with Plague.**_

_Speaking of which... You want to tell me what happened there? I'm still a little fuzzy around the edges concerning that day. I was out cold for Plague's escape._

_**I do have a theory about that.**_

_Do tell. Fury seems to think that I'm responsible for that lunatic escaping. I'd like to think of a way to prove my innocence._

_**I think he got out through that vent that we came in the first time. He was sitting right under it, if you recall.**_

_Oh hell. You're right. He was sitting right there. He probably climbed right out the second he realized that things were about to really go south. One good jump would have gotten him right to the tree line. Just one problem. Fury will never believe me._

_**So? We don't need to worry about him anymore. We left the country. This is our home now, and while we're on the subject, I'm going to be spawning within the next couple of weeks. Have you decided on a host for our child?**_

_Kali, if she'll accept it. If not, I was going to ask Goat Eyes. That's out of the question now, though. If Kali says no, what can we do?_

_**I can cocoon my offspring until we find a willing host. That isn't a concern. I have another question, though. What about the spawn Kali wishes to have with you? Any children you have would be a perfect host for one of my kind.**_

_I'll deal with that when the time comes. Kali and I aren't using any kind of birth control, and she still hasn't gotten pregnant yet. We may not be able to have children together._

_**We might be able to solve two problems at once, you know.**_

_How do you figure that?_

_**My spawn could join with your child, and they could grow together. I can make certain that Kali gets pregnant that way.**_

_That's certainly an interesting idea, but it's something I'll have to discuss with Kali. Besides, how do we know we won't be creating another Venom or worse. Another Carnage? Maybe even another Plague? I'm not sure I want to take that risk._

_**I'd hardly call it a risk, Taylor. You may not be aware of this, but we symbiotes can share memory and knowledge by touch. It's part of what allows us to share a group mind. Our offspring can grow with all of our knowledge and experience at it's disposal, and we can teach it the ways that we try to live. Your law says "Love, an that thou harm none, do as thou will."**_

_That's the Wiccan Rede, yes. A law which I've already broken more than once._

_**To defend yourself and others. I fail to see a problem here. Not to mention the fact that bonding with a symbiote at such an early age will mean that they will lack a problem that we share.**_

_And that is?_

_**They will grow into one mind, whereas we will always be two. I share your body, your memories, and even your love for others, but we are still two separate minds. Our offspring will literally become a single being. Whole, and strong. I rather like the idea.**_

_I have to admit that I do too, but I still need to talk this over with Kali._

_**Fair enough. Have you chosen a name for us yet? I would like to have one, whether you decide to be a superhero or not.**_

_Actually, I have been giving that some thought. How about Pagan?_

_**Pagan? Hmm. I like that. Pagan. We are Pagan.**_

Taylor found himself being shaken awake by a worried looking Kali.

"Baby? Wake up, please! You're starting to scare me."

Sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Taylor saw it was nearly sunrise. He felt rested and refreshed, and he was fairly certain that he was ready to face the day. He turned back to Kali, a slight smile on his face.

"Good morning, sweetheart."

"Good morning? Good morning?! You wake me up at the crack of dawn, talking in your sleep, in your other voice, and all you have to say is good morning?"

Deciding to act on instinct, he replied "I love you, too. I'm sorry I woke you up. What did I say?"

"You said 'We are Pagan.' I didn't know what to think."

Taking her in his arms, he lay them both back down.

"Sorry Kali. My other and I walking talking some things over. One of those things was my symbiotic name. We are Pagan. Seemed like a suitable name to me."

"Mmm. Well, I'm glad you two got that sorted out. What else did you talk about?"

"Children. Symbiotic, and otherwise."

"Huh?"

"My other is going to be spawning soon, and that spawn is going to need a host. I was going to ask you, but Pagan suggested another idea. I wanted to discuss it with you first, though."

"Okay. Shoot."

"Well, I noticed that, even though we haven't been using protection, you haven't caught yet. Pagan told me that it could help with that. It also said that if it's offspring bonds with our child while still in the womb, that child would become one being. Strong, fast, and with only one mind, as opposed to two, like I have. It would be able to learn everything that I know just by touching me, and it would probably be smarter than all of us put together. I like the idea, but I wanted to hear your input. If you don't like it, we can find another way to do things."

"So what you're saying is that I would be carrying two babies instead of one?"

"For the first few days of your pregnancy, yes. After that, the bonding would be complete, and it would be just one baby. One baby with all of my abilities, and quite possibly some of yours. Your strength is nearly equal to mine if you're ticked off or scared enough. Our child would have that enhanced by the symbiote half of it's biology. It might be better adapted than mine, since it would be born here, which means it might have fewer vulnerabilities. Carnage is Venom's offspring, and he seems stronger by a good bit. Also, by doing things this way, there's almost no chance whatsoever that we'd be raising another one of those monsters. What do you think?"

Kali was silent for a while. Taylor watched the room brighten as he waited for her answer.

"You said it would be a couple of weeks before your other spawned?"

"Yeah."

She rolled on top of him, and said "Well, we might as well get some practice in while we wait."

Taylor's smile was soon smothered with kisses.

**GRENADA**

The smile Taylor started the day with did not entirely leave him, but the man he was currently dealing with was testing that. Diego, picking up on his master's irritation, took a step back, and motioned for Kyla to do the same. He felt a bit of a thrill when she took his hand, but kept silent.

"Look, Mr. Dupre, I fail to see the problem. You sell boats, and I want to buy one. I also want to buy a barge. Where's the problem here?"

The rat-like boat salesman sneered at the two behind Taylor, and then at Taylor himself.

"Truthfully, you don't look like you could afford to buy the least of my boats. You look like a tourist who wants to waste my time."

Taylor's smile was gone. The expression on his face was cold and hard. He held out his hand, into which Diego put the briefcase.

"I want a decent boat, with enough power to pull the barge and it's cargo. I'm not arguing with you any more."

Opening the latches, he displayed the contents to Dupre, who's eyes bulged in disbelief.

"Do we have a bargain, Mr. Dupre, or do I need to take my money somewhere else?"

Dupre drew his eyes up to meet Taylor's, and gulped at what he saw.

"Sir, I think that answers all my questions satisfactorily. If you could follow me?"

Soon, the trio were on their way into the city to pick up the rest of their supply list. Taylor's good mood seemed to be returning, causing Diego and Kyla to relax. At the electronics store, he managed to buy all he needed for his next project, as well as a set of laptops, and a wireless network base station. After that, it was off to the hardware store for tools, steel support beams, a welding set, a load of bricks, and several bags of cement. Taylor ensured that it would all be delivered to the barge, and then they headed back to the boat. The new boat, which was already fitted to tow the barge, was a fairly new tug boat. The barge was already tied to it, and the cabin cruiser that they had arrived in was tied up behind that. Diego was sent into the city again for food, and soon returned with lunch, which they ate while waiting for the deliveries.

It was not until an hour after lunch that the deliveries started to arrive, and that kept Taylor pretty busy. Once everything had arrived and been stowed away on the barge, they went back out to get the rest of their shopping done. Kali had asked for a somewhat modest wardrobe, and a few more personal items, and Taylor meant to see that she got what she wanted. His smile returned full force, and he couldn't help but feel that he was finally getting things where he wanted them to be.


	14. Chapter 14

**BERMUDA**

Tony Stark stood at the edge of his yacht, leaning on the railing. His eyes roved out across the waves, and he sighed wearily. Himself, Black Widow, Captain America, and Spiderman had been tapped by Fury to head out to the last known coordinates of the boat that Taylor Stevens had escaped in with his mutant friends. The only two on the yacht with any practical knowledge of how Taylor might react were on this boat, and they were the people Taylor likely wanted to see the least. He looked over at Parker, who lounged on a deck chair, a fruit smoothie in one hand. Parker had even less reason to want to see the symbiote, given his history with the creatures in general, and this one in particular.

Captain America, a.k.a. Steve Rodgers, looked like he would much rather be in his costume, his signature red, white, blue shield on his arm. He most certainly did not look comfortable in the Hawaiian shirt and swim trunks he was currently wearing. Tony could understand that. He'd rather being wearing his armor, himself. Natasha was the only one who looked even remotely like she was comfortable with the assignment. Her two piece thong bikini left little to the imagination, and Tony was imagining plenty. He tried to keep the staring to a minimum, though. He was hardly in the mood to antagonize Steve by moving in on his girl. Of course, Natasha didn't mind being looked at. God help the poor fool who ever touched her though. Steve wouldn't have to smash the offender flat, although he would be mightily annoyed. Natasha, on the other hand, would be smiling at the offender while she blew his brains out, or slit his throat. Even wearing a bathing suit that skimpy, Tony was certain she had a weapon of some sort hidden somewhere. She always did.

The assignment was actually going pretty well, in his opinion. They had his last coordinates, his general direction, and the specifications of the boat. They had to be close.

A quiet beeping sounded off to Tony's left. Natasha practically pounced on the communicator, and fitted it to her ear.

"Yes? You have? Where? That far? I see. We'll get right on it."

She pulled the communicator away, her eyes wide in shock. She turned to Steve, and whispered "How in the hell did he get to Grenada?"

**THE ISLAND**

Kali awoke that morning to Taylor's voice shouting something about "try it now." That was followed by the sound of a massive electrical arc, which was followed by some rather ripe cursing from Taylor. Allowing her curiosity to get the better of her, she leaned out the open window of the bedroom to get a better look.

Taylor was on the ground next to a device of some kind. It had what looked like a dish antenna on the top of it. He did something to the side of it, and it arced again.

"Okay. Try it now."

Diego's voice came from around the side of the house.

"Si! That did it!"

Kali decided to find out what was going on.

"Hey! What are you doing down there?"

Taylor's grin widened, and he hollered "Hey! Good morning, sweetheart! I got the energy collector finished. We'll never have to worry about electricity ever again. We can get rid of that nasty diesel generator out back. I've got a smaller one in the works for the boats. We'll never have to buy fuel again either. I can take the engines out, and replace them with smaller electric turbines. That'll add some extra space for cargo or whatever. Best of all, now that I don't have to worry about power limitations, I can get to work on a couple of other things I'm wanting to try."

"Why weren't you building this stuff before?"

"Because I didn't have a memory chip with blueprints for this stuff before. I found it stuck in with those guns downstairs. Turns out A.I.M. stands for Advanced Idea Mechanics. Some kind of terrorist group made up of super geniuses. I have to give credit where it's due, though. Those guys may all be psychotic, but they know their stuff. The plans to build the stuff on that chip are so simple, I couldn't screw it up if I tried. There's a cloaking device on there too, and that's going to be my next project. We'll be able to hide the whole damned island!"

Kali leaned back inside the window. Hide the whole island? That sounded like a damned good idea! She began getting dressed, pulling on a pair of black shorts and a blue string bikini. She finished the outfit with a pair of sandals, and headed outside. Taylor met her on the porch, and swept her into a soul searing kiss. The stubble on his jaw caused her to giggle.

"I don't suppose you thought to buy a razor while you were in town, did you?"

His grin turned a bit sheepish.

"I guess I could do with a clean up. I haven't even slept yet. I'm too excited! Once I get this stuff set up, we'll never have to worry about anything. We'll be completely self-sufficient."

"We'll never have to leave the island for anything, huh?"

"Not unless we want to. We'll be safe. Finally, we'll be safe."

Kali practically dragged him into the shower, and stood perfectly still as she shaved him. What followed was a combination of rinsing off and making out, at the end of which Taylor carried her out to the bedroom and spent the rest of the morning burning off his adrenaline buzz.

It came as quite a surprise to her, as she lay there with her mate, when a tendril grew out of his skin and formed a miniature version of his face in the battle outfit.

"_**Kali. We have not truly spoken to you one on one. We believe it is time to do so."**_

Calming herself, Kali tried to keep the flutter out of her voice.

"Okay. I guess I forget that you and Taylor are two different critters. Kinda took me by surprise."

"_**We understand. Taylor has called us Pagan."**_

It made her feel just a little bit better knowing the thing had a name.

"Okay. What did you want to talk to me about?"

"_**Our host has spoken to you of the bonding? The bonding with our spawn?"**_

"Yeah. We talked about it."

"_**We have discovered something. About you."**_

Kali felt her heart begin to race. _Oh god. It's going to tell me I'm pregnant! I just know it!_

"_**You are incapable of mothering offspring. You are... Damaged. If you were to be bonded, your other would be able to repair this damage, but until then, you are barren. Therefore, we ask you Kali. Will you be host to our offspring? The time comes soon for us, and an answer is needed now."**_

Kali was left blinking at the fact that had just hit her like a fist in the stomach. She could only stammer out "I-I-I don't know. I need a minute. I gotta..." She got out of bed, and stood staring at the little face. Now she knew. She'd suspected after all this time with Taylor, and not catching pregnant, but this confirmed it. She knew what was responsible for her sterility, and who. Staggering into the bathroom, Kali fell to the tile and wept as silently as she could.

Some time later, after having washed her face, she came back into the bedroom. Nothing had changed. Taylor was still asleep, and Pagan was still on the end of a tendril coming out of his shoulder. She sighed, and whispered "Does he know?"

"_**Not yet, but as soon as we allow him to awaken, he will. He has become very adept at searching our memories to see what he missed while he slept. His mind is gaining strength. Soon, very soon, he will be ready for the power we found within him. It is ironic that noone, not even our host, suspected that he was a mutant."**_

"What?"

"_**Taylor is a mutant. We think he will be quite powerful, if his mutation should ever manifest. We hope it will, and soon. The stronger the host, the stronger the partnership, and the longer both organisms live. We are uncertain which direction his mutation will go, but we have suspicions. We will just have to wait and see. As for you, what is your answer?"**_

Looking away from the symbiote's face, she gazed lovingly at Taylor's. Could she bear his suit's offspring, and allow it to heal her, so that she could bear Taylor's?

"Yes."

"_**Thank you. You should know that once you bond, you will become part of the group mind. You and Taylor will be able to share each other's thoughts, should you wish to. We shall build our own Synoptic here in this place. You shall know just how much you mean to our host."**_

The face and tendril melted away, leaving her alone with her mate, who seemed to be fighting his way to wakefulness. She kissed him on the lips, and smiled at him. His eyes went blank for a moment, and then he grinned happily.

"I love you, Kali. Even if this world falls to death and darkness, I will always love you."

"And good afternoon to you too, Mr. Stevens."

The grin became a smirk as he rasped "Good afternoon to you as well, Mrs. Stevens."

She closed her eyes and lay her head down on his chest.

"I don't think I'll ever get tired of hearing you call me that."

Taylor chuckled quietly.

"Well, considering I haven't the faintest idea what your real name is, trying to call you by your maiden name is pointless. Besides, it has a married ring to it, and I feel pretty married right now. I have to say that I like this feeling. I just wish Goat Eyes was here to see this."

"Yeah. I miss him too. So much."

They lay together for only a short while before hunger drove them both to the kitchen. Taylor's other morphed into jeans and a white polo shirt. Kali watched the change for a moment, and looked over at her closet.

"I wasted all kinds of time and money getting those clothes, didn't I?"

Taylor took her hand, and led her downstairs.

"Doesn't matter, baby. Soon, you'll be bonded like me, and then you won't believe the stuff you'll be able to do. And wear. Think about it. You'll never have to cut your clothes again."

"Oh believe me, Taylor. I am thinking about it. Very hard."

They were both laughing as they came into the kitchen. Kyla was already seated at the breakfast nook, tapping away at her laptop. Taylor peeked over her shoulder, and saw that she was working on an English learning program. Smiling at her look of concentration, he left her to it.

As he cooked for himself and Kali, he asked "So what's on your agenda for today?"

**AVENGERS' BOAT**

"You know," stated Captain America, now wearing his costume. "I've seen a lot of strange things over the years. Aliens, androids, metahumans, and stuff like that. That storm, though, that was just downright weird!"

Natasha gave out a very unladylike snort.

"You have got to be joking, Steve. After all the things you've seen, a storm bothers you?"

"When the storm throws us several hundred miles across the ocean in one night, yeah. It bothers me. People getting strange, I can deal with, but when Mother Nature starts pulling tricks, I worry. Call me provincial."

Iron Man stepped out onto the deck, followed closely by Spiderman. He stepped up the magnification on his visor, and started scanning the island.

"**Heads up, people. I've got eyes on the boat, what's left of it. Looks like it's been burned, and I can see what looks like a body hanging over the side."**

Moving in to investigate, Iron Man took to the air.

**THE ISLAND**

Taylor nearly choked on his eggs when he heard the sound of boot jets. He threw the chair back in his haste to get outside, his eyes wide in fear. Kali ran out behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder once they were out on the porch.

"What is it?"

Morphing into his battle outfit, he whispered _**"Do you hear it? Like a jet turbine, but higher pitched?"**_

"Yeah. What is that?"

"_**Boot jets. Someone is here, and they have armor made by Stark. Might even be Stark himself. We'll check things over, and see if we need to hide or not."**_

She hugged him from behind, tightly.

"Be careful, baby."

Pagan shivered once, and ran off into the tree line.

Arriving near where he had heard the jets, Pagan groaned in frustration. Morphing his suit to a white tee shirt and white shorts, he stepped out into view of the Avengers.

"What in the name of the gods are you people doing here? Shouldn't you be off saving the world?"

Spiderman hopped down from the top of the boat.

"We are. We're saving it from you."

Taylor made a disgusted noise.

"Did you have to bring him? I left the freaking country to get away from sanctimonious hypocrites like him, and you guys show up practically on my doorstep with this idiot. And you," he said, pointing at Iron Man. "What are you getting out of this? For heaven's sake, people! I'm not a threat!"

Turning his eyes to Captain America, he said "I'm not a traitor, either, no matter what Fury told you. You being here is an insult to both of us."

Black Widow met Taylor's eyes, and said "Nothing to say to me?"

"Nothing you'd want repeated in front of your friends here. I've seen too much of your dossier from my time spent in Fury's office to want to get into a hissing match with you, lady. You being here means Fury wants me dead."

Captain America raised his hands, palm out.

"Whoa! Nobody wants anybody dead. Let's all calm down a minute here. We're here to take you into custody, and return you to SHIELD headquarters. That's all."

Taylor stared hard at the man for about a second and a half.

"Do you have any idea what they're going to do to me, once you get me back there? That's not a trial waiting for me. It's a death sentence. If you don't believe me, take a look at the group you were sent here with. Iron Man probably has enough firepower in that suit to turn this whole island into a crater, if necessary. Spiderman's already succeeded in killing me once, with the help of Reed Richards. As for the Widow there, she was an assassin before she was an Avenger, and according to her file, is still an assassin when the occasion calls for it. If you haven't figured it out yet, you are the only one here that doesn't have either a grudge, or orders to kill me. Since I have no desire to be murdered by my own government, and even less to be killed by people most consider to be heroes, I'm asking you guys politely. Please leave my island, and let us live in peace."

Iron Man landed on the beach, and pointed both of his hands at Taylor.

"That's not going to happen, Stevens! Give it up!"

Steve saw the young man shake his head sadly, and say "You're not even going to attempt to listen to reason, are you?"

Iron Man pulled a set of power cuffs from his waist, and tossed them to Spiderman, who started forward until Taylor's glare stopped him in his tracks. His other covered him, and his voice was chilling to hear.

"_**We have been kidnaped, experimented on, chased across our country, betrayed, experimented on again, flatlined, chased out of our country, and had to watch our father-in-law die. If you think you're going to put us in a pair of souped up handcuffs just so you can do it to us again, you are in for a rude awakening. We aren't going anywhere. Especially not with you, Spiderman."**_

Spiderman flipped back and away from Pagan just in time to avoid a plasma blast at where his feet had been. Holding the plasma rifle in question was an enraged Kali, and it wasn't the only weapon she carried. Nor was she alone.

Diego looked terrified, but determined. Kyla, on the other hand, looked ready to fight a war. Both of the humans carried plasma rifles. The symbiote covered Taylor's smirk.

"_**Avengers, allow us to introduce our mate, Kali. The young man is Diego, and the young woman is Kyla. Oh, and Spiderman? They don't like you either."**_

Hating the necessity of it, Captain America flung his shield at the symbiote while Black Widow drew her pistols. Iron Man had already fired off a repulsor at the boy and girl, disarming them, and Spiderman sprayed them both with webbing. He couldn't believe his eyes when, instead of hitting the symbiote, Pagan caught and then redirected the shield into Black Widow's mid-section.

This was where everything went wrong.

The shield struck Widow with enough force to knock her off her feet. It also caused her to fire both of her pistols. One bullet struck a tree, but the other hit Kali in the stomach.

"_**No! Kali!!"**_

Pagan ran for the mutant, but Spiderman intercepted him, tackling him from the side. Having seen Pagan's reaction to the mutant woman getting shot, Steve knew that going after him now was a mistake. Spiderman was about to find out just how much of a mistake, because what turned to face him was the one thing he hoped never to face.

Pagan went wild, biting and clawing, trying to get to his mate. There was no time for diplomacy, and no more interest in talking. Anyone between Pagan and his mate would go down hard. Iron Man had taken to the air again, but was unable to get a shot in. Black Widow was attempting to sit up, but was obviously nursing some broken ribs. Coming to a decision, Captain America called out to the wall crawler.

"Spiderman! Pull back!"

The moment Spiderman was distracted, Pagan ducked around him. Kneeling next to the fallen mutant, Steve could hear Pagan whispering to her.

Spiderman stomped over to Captain America.

"What the heck, Cap? We can take him!"

Steve shook his head.

"Fight's over, son. He lost. Let him say goodbye in peace."

A scream drew their gazes back to Pagan. His other seemed to ripple, and a tendril pulled out of his chest. It slapped wetly against Kali's bullet wound, and then slithered into it. The end attached to Pagan separated from him, and melted completely into Kali. Pagan fell over, exhausted, and lay on his back. His other melted away, retreating completely into his body, leaving him nude. Kali rolled over, and rested her head on his chest. Her eyes opened, seeming to take in everything within her line of sight. Finally settling on Captain America, she smiled.

"Taylor had a lot of respect for you. I could care less who you are, and I don't have his problem with killing. The next one of you flatscans comes near my mate will die screaming."

Her other slithered over her skin, giving her a yellow coating with black tiger stripes. Her mouth became horrifically fanged maw.

"_**We swear it. We are Nemesis, and we will defend our mate. You said that he would not be harmed if he came quietly. Will you swear to it?"**_

Spiderman shivered at the thought of fighting two symbiotes, but forced down his fear as he said "Why the sudden change of heart? You were ready to fight us all to stay here a minute ago."

"_**We know our mate's mind. Pagan wishes to clear his name. He still believes can serve his country, and regardless of Fury's treachery, he was honored to be a SHIELD agent. If nothing else, he wishes us to be left in peace. We were planning on starting a family, both as symbiotes, and as a man and woman. Even upworld scum like you can understand that. Pagan is not a traitor. He doesn't know how to betray."**_

Steve considered his next move carefully before speaking.

"Do you promise to come quietly, both of you? I won't put restraints on you, but Iron Man will be ready with a sonic pulse to take you both down. I think we've both had enough fighting for today."

"_**We promise. This is what Pagan was trying to do before you started the fight anyway."**_

Her other melted back into her flesh, and she turned her eyes to Iron Man.

"I can't believe Taylor ever thought we could trust you. I told him we should have just sold that arm thing of yours."

Sensing that there would be no more violence, he called in for pick up. He could hear Kali trying to wake Taylor up. He turned to see the young man sit up, groan, and clutch at his temples.

"Oh gods, my head! Did someone kick me while I was out?"

Kali quickly and quietly told him what had occurred. He nodded, and formed the tee shirt, jeans, and sneakers that he had been wearing when he stepped out of the tree line. He added a ball cap and a pair of sunglasses to the outfit. Kali, following his example, created a yellow tee shirt, black jeans, and sandals. She held him tightly as they waited for the plane to arrive.


	15. Chapter 15

**SHIELD HEADQUARTERS**

Fury was still trying to figure out how Captain America had managed to capture not one, but two, symbiotes when the plane arrived. He watched as the cargo door opened, and a set of agents carried Taylor out on a stretcher. That mutant girlfriend of his was beside them, holding his right hand. The other Avengers came down, and Iron Man followed the two symbiotes to the medical wing. They were followed closely by Black Widow, who was also on a stretcher. Captain America came over to him.

"Report."

"Sir, they agreed to come quietly. I agreed to make sure that noone tried to kill them or experiment on them. The male seemed convinced that by sending Black Widow to get him, you wanted him dead."

"Why was he on a stretcher? That from the fight?"

"No sir. After infecting the metahuman, he collapsed. When he woke up, he complained of a migraine. We got him on the plane, and he collapsed again. The pain in his head seemed to get steadily worse until that point. Shortly before that, it got very cold on the plane. The power browned out, too. It seemed like he was absorbing all the energy around him."

Fury nodded, and started walking back to the building. Steve fell into step beside him.

"We figured he was a mutant from the blood work we got when he first joined SHIELD. He was well past puberty, though, so we figured it was latent and would probably never manifest. Looks like the med techs were wrong. It does explain his attraction to the mutant woman, though."

Wisely deciding to say nothing about that, Cap mentioned something else that had been bothering him.

"Sir, there was something else I wanted to ask you."

"Shoot."

"When the female showed up, she was carrying several energy weapons. She wasn't alone either. She had two civilians with her. A boy and a girl, both armed with similar weapons. We have them both in custody, but I'm not sure what we should do with them. The boy speaks enough English to get by, and all I got from him was his and the girl's name, and the fact that the girl doesn't speak any English at all. We've got them both in restraints because when we let them up out of Spiderman's webbing, they both came up swinging. The boy could be halfway reasoned with, but the girl was nearly feral. It seems that 'Senor Taylor' and 'Senora Kali' spared their lives after some kind of dust up with the previous owners of the island."

Fury nodded in acknowledgment, and said "I want the two civilians given full physicals. Make sure that they're not infected too."

"Yes sir."

**HOLDING CELL, SHIELD HEADQUARTERS**

Taylor awoke to feel of a metal bunk under him, and a warm woman at his side. Taking stock, he realized that his head no longer hurt, and he was otherwise uninjured. Opening his eyes, he saw that he was in a cell at SHIELD headquarters. He sighed, hoping that he was wrong about how bad an idea it was to be there. Kali snuggled up tighter to him, and her smile let him know she was no longer sleeping.

"Hey. Sleeping Beauty. How long was I out?"

She leaned over to kiss him on the mouth, taking her time about it. When she settled back down, she said "You've been out for about a day or so. I had a talk with Pagan. He said you were okay. He's been toning down your power so you don't black the place out."

"My power?"

"You're a mutant, honey. Just like me. Pagan told me. He said you didn't know. Oh, my other's name is Nemesis, in case you were wondering."

Taylor's grin was mischievous to say the least.

"Nemesis? That fits. I always thought you looked like a goddess anyway."

"Oh, you-"

She was interrupted by Taylor pulling her into another kiss. They stayed that way for a moment, until the sound of the cell door opening got their attention. Fury came in as they sat up. He watched them, saying nothing as they got themselves presentable. Finally, Taylor stood up in a parade rest stance.

"Something on your mind, Fury?"

"Why did you infect the woman?"

Taylor and Kali turned to look at each other, and when he turned back to face Fury, he was scowling.

"I'd hardly call it an infection, Fury. The symbiotes are intelligent beings. More intelligent than we are in some cases. If you really want to get nasty about this, let me ask you a question. Why did you accuse me of treason? You know damn well I did not help Plague escape. He'd already killed the men under my command, and he and the others he'd created were trying to kill me. Why on earth would I help him escape?"

"You still trying to push that story?"

"It's the truth, Fury, whether you want to hear it or not. I'm sorry you've gone so war wacky you can't hear it anymore."

"You got a lot of nerve, kid."

"Maybe, but I'm not a traitor. Not now, and not ever. I'd rather die than betray my country, even if my country has decided it doesn't like me anymore."

"We'll see."

With that, Fury turned on his heel, and stormed out of the cell. Later, in his office, he and Steve Rodgers were in conversation. Steve asked "Well? What do you think?"

Fury growled, and spat "I think I'd like to put the little punk through boot camp, and teach him not to be insubordinate!"

"But do you think he really cut Plague loose?"

"It's kind of hard to argue that he did when every sensor in that cell says he didn't lie to me even once during the whole conversation, up to and including the part about him preferring to die rather than betray his country. I have to say, I've known soldiers who weren't that dedicated. If I had a choice, I'd cut him loose, but my superiors think the symbiotes pose an immediate threat. They don't care how dedicated he is."

"So, even though you know he's not a traitor, he's still your enemy."

Fury glared at Steve for a good three seconds.

"Rodgers, if it were up to me, SHIELD would be disbanded because nobody needed us anymore. People like Stevens could run off to wherever with whoever they wanted."

Steve couldn't hide his look of disgust. Fury mirrored it.

"Hey, I can't help the fact that his girlfriend's a mutant. In case you forget, he is too."

Steve disgusted expression changed to one of irritation.

"No. I've no opinion on the genetics involved. I'm more disappointed that you'd use the 'I'm just following orders' excuse. I didn't figure you to pass the buck like that."

Fury scowled, realizing that Steve was right. _Christ, I must be getting old,_ he thought to himself. He was about to respond when his communicator went off.

"Fury."

"_Sir, the two symbiotes you had in the brig have escaped. The male did something to the door, freezing it solid, and then he just punched it and broke it like glass. Agents are converging on their position now, sir."_

"Aw, hell in a handbasket. Get Iron Man on the horn, and get him here ASAP! Tell him to bring his whole anti-slime critter arsenal with him."

Turning to Captain America, Fury said "You said he responded to you. Get down there and try to talk to him."

**THE ESCAPE**

Pagan ran, jumped, and wall-crawled through the SHIELD headquarters building, with Nemesis right behind him. Upon hitting the outer doors to the complex, he skidded to a halt, dragging Nemesis behind when she started to go past. Acting on an intuition, he peeked around the door jamb, sucking in a surprised gasp at what he saw.

"_**Who in heaven's name do they think we are? The Hulk?"**_

Nemesis cocked her head sideways, her hair tendrils writhing.

"_**What is it? What's out there?"**_

Pagan shook his head, and leaned back against the wall.

"_**Iron Man, Captain America, about forty SHIELD agents, and about a dozen tanks."**_

"_**Oh."**_

Running through their options, a plan started to form.

"_**Honey, we just got a brainstorm. You've seen the SHIELD agent uniform, right?"**_

"_**Yeah."**_

"_**Hide you lower arms, your hair, and your eyes with your other. Make yourself look like an agent. We'll do the same, and then we'll head for the roof."**_

Morphing her other as she was instructed, Pagan was once again struck by her resemblance to Cindy Crawford. Shaking off his distraction, he also morphed his other into a SHIELD uniform. Praying that his plan would work, they began walking towards the elevator.

Meanwhile, Iron Man was standing outside, repulsor blasts at the ready, waiting for the two symbiotes to show themselves. His instincts were telling him to expect something sneaky, so he began shifting vision modes on his visor. It only took one switch, infrared, to show him his prey was escaping.

"**Cap, they've made us! They're heading for the roof!"**

"Then get us up there! You men move in! Do not let them get past you!"

On the top floor, Taylor stopped the elevator and peeked out. Deciding the coast was clear, he stepped out, casually motioning for Kali to follow him. They crept down the hallway until they came to the window at the end. Turning to Kali with a grin, he whispered "Are you ready to try out a set of glider wings?"

Kali scowled, and said something decidedly unladylike.

"I'd rather have my goblin glider."

Leaning in to plant a quick kiss on her cheek, he replied "If we can get out of here, we'll stop by the lair and pick it up. There are a couple of things I want to check on there anyway."

He was about to dive through the glass when he saw Iron Man carrying Captain America up to the roof. Looking down, he saw all the soldiers filing into the building. He had a moment where it felt like his bowels were turning liquid, but he sucked it up and got back to business.

"Change of plans, sweetheart. Keep up the disguise. We're headed back down to the front door."

Deciding to take the stairs, they still encountered soldiers. The aforementioned soldiers ordered them to move aside, and with a knowing smirk, Taylor did exactly that. He held that smirk all the way off the base.

**THE LAIR**

Taylor was no longer smiling, and hadn't been since entering the lair. He stared at the bare walls with a feeling of sincere loathing for Tony Stark. Kali summed up his feelings very succinctly.

"Indian giving sack of rat filth."

Morphing into his battle outfit, Pagan stalked all through the lair, his anger building like a fire with plentiful fuel. Sensing how close he was to lashing out, Kali stayed well away from him. Finally blowing his top, Pagan gave out a roar and put his fist into the nearest wall.

Or rather, he would have if there had been an actual wall there.

The force of his punch spun Pagan completely around, and he fell through the wall as if it were smoke. Looking up from where he fell, he saw hologram emitters along the edge of the doorway. Standing up, he flipped the two switches by the door and turned to see what the secret room contained.

"_**Holy crow! Goblin, you were holding out on us."**_

Kali, hearing the exclamation, came running. Pagan stuck a hand through the hologram wall, and pulled her through. As she took in the contents of the room, her own expression was rather more coarse.

"Oh baby! Come to Momma!"

Pagan morphed back into "Taylor" mode, his grin firmly in place.

"Honey, I think we just hit the jackpot."

They hugged each other, laughing like children, and moved in to see what they could use out of the Green Goblin's secret research and development lab.

**THE GOBLIN PLANE**

Kali stretched out luxuriously in the co-pilot's chair, watching Taylor fly the plane they had found in a hangar connected to the back of the lab. Upon finding the plane, they had loaded every piece of equipment and tool they could find into the cargo hold. Taylor climbed into the cockpit, and had immediately begun laughing uproariously.

"You've got to be kidding me! No way I could be that lucky!"

"What?"

Taylor's grin threatened to wrap itself around his head.

"He modeled all the controls for this thing on an SR-71 Blackbird. I'll not only be able to fly this thing, I've got over fifty hours of simulator time flying one."

He looked at one set of controls, and cursed in surprise.

"He's even got this thing rigged for ECM and stealth running. Not only can I fly it, but they'll never see us leave."

She smiled as she realized just how foolish SHIELD and the Avengers would look when the two symbiotes got away clean.

"So where are we going to go? Back to the island?"

Taylor nodded, not looking up from the controls.

"For a little while. About three or four days. I'll need time to refit the plane for a new power system, because I am not going to be worrying about where we can set down to refuel this thing. I also think we should pick up a bundle or three of that cash in the basement. I think I know what we can do to keep SHIELD from messing with us again. How do you feel about Eastern Europe?"

Smiling at the memory, Kali cast her mind back to their arrival on the island. Taylor had leapt out of the plane at a dead run, and reached the basement before she did. She had only reached the basement door when a burst of highly vivid cursing involving a certain SHIELD administrator alerted her to the fact that something was very wrong.

She came down to find Taylor still in a one sided verbal flaying of Nick Fury. Moving past him, she saw why. The basement was completely empty of cash and weaponry. She turned back to face her lover, and took him into her arms. He finally calmed down enough to stop his ranting, and hold Kali to him. She looked up at him, and while he had stopped yelling, she could tell that inside his mind, Taylor Stevens was seething with rage.

It was several hours after sunset, and Kali had since gone to bed. She had left Taylor to his angry pacing, not having the slightest idea what to say to take the look of savage anger out of his eyes. She fell asleep that night, having no idea what was next.

The very next morning, she awoke to the smell of breakfast in bed and a rather tired looking, but happy Taylor. Lifting an eyebrow, she asked "And you're grinning about what, exactly?"

His grin, if anything, had grown wider.

"You're not going to believe this. I found the second basement."

Kali blinked.

"You found the what?"

"Eat your breakfast, and I'll show you."

She ate, and he showed her.

As it turned out, AIM had apparently made some additions when they had put in the basement for Julio's use, one of which was a series of lower levels, four in all. They had been carved right out of the bedrock, and extended far out under the ocean floor. During the tour of the warehouse, Taylor had quipped that should they ever take over another super villain's house, they needed to check it thoroughly for secret hidey holes. Kali was convinced of that sentiment.

Stretching in her chair again, Kali stood up and went back into the cargo hold. In it, there were six pallets of cash, all of the contents of the Green Goblin's secret lab, and four of the smaller energy collectors that Taylor had built while laying over on the island. He had fitted the plane with one, as well. There was also a device that he had installed in the cockpit, and she had no idea what it was or did. She figured it had something to do with his mutation, as he would seem to get tired, stick his hand in the device for a few seconds, and when he removed it, he would be chipper, eager, and energized. Taylor had not slept for over thirty six hours, and had not eaten in even longer. It was beginning to worry her.

Soon, their destination was in sight. Kali had misgivings when Taylor had told her they were going to Latveria, but she had to admit that even SHIELD could not touch them there. As they set down in a clearing, Kali's doubts returned full force. Waiting for them were Dr. Doom himself, and six very large, well armed robots. Taylor morphed into his business suit, and pulled Kali to him for a good luck kiss. Then, turning on his heel, he marched down the gangplank, and greeted their host.

"Your highness, my name is Taylor Stevens. Thank you for meeting with me."

Doom's booming, metallic sounding voice emanated from the mouth of his faceplate.

"**You mentioned that you would make this meeting worth my while, boy. I had better be impressed."**

Letting the older man's arrogance slide right off of him, Taylor smiled slightly.

"Would allowing me to buy some land from you in exchange for five billion dollars be worth your while?"

"**You have my attention."**

"My mate and I are trying to settle down. However, we seem to keep running afoul of some people I believe you're familiar with, and I've made enemies with just about all of them."

"**And you believe you can find sanctuary under my rule? You flatter me."**

"You misunderstand me. I'm not looking to become a citizen of your land. I'm looking to create my own land. I have other options, should you refuse me, but you were at the top of a very short list of people to contact for this sort of thing."

"**Really? And who else would be on this list?"**

"John Earl, of Australia, and Tran Phong, of Vietnam."

"**And I was first on the list? Why was that?"**

"Because you have land that you don't intend to develop, and really have no use for. I, on the other hand, do have a use for it, and am perfectly willing to pay for it. Money is not all I'm offering, by the way."

"**You have something else?"**

"Technology. Along with the money, I'll give you the plans for my energy collector. It will give you the ability to reduce your kingdom's need for outside resources considerably. For example, my prototype was about the size of a telephone booth, and generates enough power to keep New York going for about six hours. I've got one installed on this plane, in fact, if you'd like to take a look. The unit itself costs about four hundred dollars to build. That's parts, wiring, casing, and the whole shebang."

Doom was silent for a moment, and then said **"That's very interesting, if true. You said it's a collector? What is it's main source of energy?"**

"Solar, mostly, but it can feed on just about any ambient energy. Spins it into a huge amount of energy by way of a series of microturbines. Are you interested, or should I make Australia my next stop?"

"**Don't be insolent with me, boy. Doom is not to be mocked."**

"I'm not mocking you. I'm asking you a serious question. Do you want to make a deal, or should I leave and go somewhere else? In case you forget, I am a hunted man, and I'm on a bit of a timetable. There's no telling when SHIELD, Spiderman, the Avengers, or even the Fantastic Four will show up to try and take me into custody."

Again, Doom was silent for a moment.

"**Mr. Stevens, I invite you and your mate to my castle for dinner. Perhaps you could share the tale of how you managed to share so many enemies with me."**

Taylor smiled broadly, and said "Your highness, my mate and I would be honored."

**THE CASTLE OF DR. DOOM**

Taylor and Kali walked into the dining room, where they were greeted by Doom's major domo. He seated them, and they in turn got to watch as Dr. Doom made his entrance.

"**Forgive me for all the fanfare. I'm afraid it has been a very long time since I've entertained guests, and my staff has been rather eager for a chance to show off."**

Kali, who was still taking it all in, blurted out "I can see why. This castle is amazing!"

Doom chuckled warmly, but his suit made it sound menacing.

"**You flatter me. My castle has been called many things, but never in admiration. I thank you."**

The dinner progressed fairly well, in Taylor's opinion, and upon request, he furnished his story from the time he was bonded up to the escape from SHIELD headquarters. Doom was laughing maniacally by the end of it.

"**Oh, I'd give much to have seen that fool Fury's face upon learning that you two had escaped! He has been a thorn in my side for far too long. I applaud your abilities, young man. Now, on to business. You wish to buy a large enough tract of land to begin your own colony. The offer you've made me is exceptionally lucrative, and I have decided to accept your offer, with one or two stipulations."**

Taylor nodded, and said "I'm listening."

"**Firstly, I would insist on a military alliance. I've no doubt that the United Nations would eventually turn on me, and I should like to be able to call on you for aid. You've already made it clear that you are fully capable of handling whatever is thrown at you, and few could stand up to the Avengers. Not only did you fight them to a stand still, but you made them look ridiculous in the process.**

"**Secondly, since part of your plans involve creating more of these symbiote creatures, I would require that you keep them in your own lands. I've no wish to have my subjects bonded against their will."**

Taylor was nodding in agreement.

"I can't argue with either of those points, your highness. If that is all there is, then we have a bargain."

"**Excellent! I shall have the necessary papers drawn up, and we can sign them in the morning. Now, I believe I shall retire for the evening, so I'll bid you good night."**

Kali and Taylor stood, and were escorted out by a robot butler. As they walked out, Kali asked "So what did you think, baby? Can we trust him? Heaven knows we share enough of the same enemies now, and he really seemed to like you."

Taylor smiled gently, and put his arm around her waist.

"Still getting used to the new senses, eh?"

"Meaning?" she said, drawing the tone out to indicate Taylor should step carefully.

"Meaning that Doom was lying his titanium plated behind off, and he not only doesn't like us, the thought of having us setting up shop so close to him scares him greener than his cape. He doesn't really want us here, so I say let's do him a favor and bail. This place is a little colder than I care for anyway. What do you think?"

Kali sighed expressively.

"And where should we go? You already told Doom who our other options were, so he knows where we're going."

"Then we go somewhere else. I've got a couple of ideas I can show you when we get back to the plane."

They left the castle, and their escort, and reached the plane in record time. Most of this was due to morphing into their others and running as fast as possible. Once on board, Pagan hopped into the pilot's chair, and started going through the checklist to take off. About halfway through, Doom's face appeared on the monitor.

"**And just where do you think you're going? You don't think I'm just going to let you leave, do you?"**

Ignoring Doom's questions, Pagan brought up a window on the screen. Grinning wickedly, he finally acknowledged Doom by saying _**"You know, there are two things you should never do, Doom. The first is never lie to a symbiote. We can always tell. The heightened senses, you know."**_

"**Oh really? And the second?"**

Hitting the button that triggered Pagan's nasty little going away present, he growled _**"Never put metal in a microwave."**_

The transmission was immediately cut off from the castle. The plane began to rise, and soon was cruising away from Latveria. Feeling his mate enter the cockpit, he merely caressed her nearest lower arm and kept silent.

"_**Did we just make a mortal enemy out of Dr. Doom too?"**_

"_**Oh, we'd say that's a safe assumption. That microwave burst pumpkin bomb is a neat little toy. We'll have to study how that one is made so we can replicate it. We have to hand it to the Goblin. He may have been insane, but he knew his stuff."**_

Retracting her mask, Kali said wistfully "You know, we could go to the Hawaiian Islands. They have plenty, and some of them aren't inhabited."

"_**That's because they get burned to a crisp by molten lava about once every three months. We like the islands too, but we were thinking something a little less likely to blow up. The Carribean, for example."**_

Kali's smile made lit up the cockpit.

"Yes! Tropical paradise, here we come!"

**GRAND CAYMAN ISLAND**

"Well," Kali said quietly. "It's not quite what I had in mind, but I guess it's a start."

Taylor, who had since morphed his other into a suit of expensive Italian cut, smiled brightly.

"Sweetheart, this is just a stop along the way. I need access to building materials, but this plane does have some weight limits. We're about to seriously annoy Tony Stark again, by the way. It'll be his building materials that we'll be using, and they're pretty light weight until they're triggered."

Kali looked confused.

"What the heck are you going to use? Not those nanobot things, I hope. I don't trust those."

"Nope," he responded with a grin. "He came up with this liquid metal stuff that expands when hit with high frequency sound. Once you get the stuff the way you want it, you turn off the sound, it hardens, and there you go. One solid mother of a foundation for our new home. Of course, we'll have to raise our own island to do this, but that's what this stuff was originally for anyway, if I heard right."

Kali gaped at him.

"Raise our own island? That's all? That's all we have to do? Well, let me just pull my magic wand out of my butt, and take care of that for you!"

"Sweetie, didn't I just say that this stuff we're getting was made to do that? Our biggest problem will be how to trigger it, since we have a serious problem with high pitched sound. I'll figure a way around that, though."

She sighed, and sat on the rock near where they landed.

"Well, it's not like you don't know what you're doing. Just be careful, Taylor. I know you've got some plans, but I still worry. I want to know that we'll be together long enough to see if those plans of yours will work."

Taylor winked cheekily, and gave her a quick peck on the lips before turning on his heel to walk towards town.


	16. Chapter 16

**SHIELD HELICARRIER**

Nick Fury was standing at attention, his face a mask of neutrality, but inside he was envisioning horrible ways for Taylor Stevens to die. That boy had caused him all sorts of trouble, not to mention humiliating both SHIELD and the Avengers, and for the first time in his career, Nick Fury was facing a board of review for incompetence.

_Yes, _he thought. _I do believe I'll go with the electric eels idea that Widow came up with. She hates that boy almost as much as I do, what with those ribs being broken. Captain America isn't real fond of him either, but I think he's still on the fence. Lord knows Iron Man wants a large strip of his hide. That kid and his girlfriend made us all look stupid._

"Colonel Fury, do you have anything to add to what's already been said?"

_Ah, what the hell? Can't do any more damage than's already been done._

"Yes, general. I realize that the source of the orders to go after the symbiotes is classified, so I'm not going to ask about that. What I would like to know is which crack addicted lunatic among you made the decision to kill my funding for my anti-symbiote squad. Stark not only has the technology, he even has a volunteer for the first test run. Spiderman has agreed to be team leader, and all we're waiting for is the go ahead order from you."

The general whom Fury was facing seemed calm, but a vein was pulsing in his forehead.

"Fury, your insubordination aside, we already have a squad with Stark fashioned suits designed for tracking the symbiotes. A second squad would just be redundant."

Fury scowled.

"Oh yes. A squad trained with suits that Stevens has already proven are inadequate to the task. Those suits are powerful, and make no mistake. They just aren't up to Stevens' level. That kid doesn't get violent often, but when he does, he fights like a cornered rat. Not to mention the fact that now that he has a mate, he'll ramp that up even more. He didn't break Widow's ribs until his mate was threatened. Otherwise, he seems content to stay off the radar. We got word that he was in Latveria two days ago, trying to buy land to create his own country. He seems to think if he can surround himself with the right kind of borders, he'll be able to keep us away from him. Problem is, he's right. If he gets the same kind of deal that the United Nations gave to Doom, or worse, to Magneto, we won't be able to touch him. He'll have carte blanche to start breeding more of those things, and our planet will change hands. Humans will no longer be in charge. We'll be just another item on the menu."

The woman in the admiral uniform had been silent for most of the hearing. When she spoke, Fury was certain he heard the death knell of his career in her voice.

"Colonel, you have all the resources we can grant you right now. Use what you're given, and get the job done. If necessary, use the Asgardian. Banner is obviously no longer a viable option, and I don't see those creatures getting the better of a half-deity."

"Admiral, I've already spoken to Thor. He won't do it. Something about seeing his brother's hand in attacking children. I have to admit, I find the possibility of Loki being involved more than a little bothersome, which is why I have Thor looking into things from that end."

The admiral narrowed her eyes.

"Do you now? Well then, you'll just have to make do. You aren't getting more than this one chance, Colonel Fury. You've done well at your post, but you are not irreplaceable."

The others nodded in agreement.

"Get it done, Fury."

**THE PLANE**

Taylor was smiling, but the smile looked forced. The slightly maniacal cast to it had Kali very worried. His plan to create an island had her even more disturbed. She could sense the desperation in his mind, and the fear. He was pretending for all he was worth that everything was okay, but in reality, Kali knew he was terrified that his plan was not going to work. Wrapping her arms around him, she nuzzled his neck.

"I believe in you, baby. This will work. I just know it."

He seemed to relax for a moment, and his fake smile drooped for a moment. He had been using his powers almost constantly to stay awake, and it was beginning to show in his eyes. She was tempted to lock him in a dark room so he would sleep, but feared what might happen if she deprived him of the energy he had become accustomed to feeding on. Would he sleep, or would he starve?

Becoming Pagan, he picked up two barrels of the stuff he had liberated from a Stark Industries warehouse, and began wiring them to a set of sonic grenades. Soon, he was ready for the next step. Triggering the timers on the grenades, he kicked the barrels out the door and watched as they sank into the ocean depths. Pulling out the fish finder he had bought while in the Cayman Islands, he monitored the descent of the barrels until the dropped into the previously carved out holes he had made in the ocean floor. Each hole was roughly twenty feet deep, and fed into a series of existing tunnels. He walked back up to the cockpit, whispering to himself _**"Please work. By the gods, please let this work."**_

Moving the plane off a safe distance away, but still hovering, he sat back in his seat to watch. Eventually, he began to see the effects of his work. Kali could see the smile become a grin as the man made island began to rise from the surface of the sea. She could also see that, while not truly enormous, the island was going to be a fairly large one. She noticed an outcropping of rock springing up, and branching off to the west. Pointing it out, she asked "Is it supposed to go that way?"

"_**No. It isn't. There must have been another tunnel down there that we didn't see. Damn! That's going to alter things a bit."**_

The outcropping branched off again and again, until it created a large circular enclosure of water. Once it reached the larger part of the island, it stopped. Finally, after several minutes of shifting sand and stone, everything settled and Taylor landed the plane on the flattest piece of rock he could find. Retracting his mask, Taylor gazed out over what he hoped was going to be his new home.

"We'll give it a couple of hours to dry out, and then we can get to work on building the house."

Trying to sound enthused, Kali asked "How long do you think that will take?"

Taylor began figuring estimates in his head. After a few moments, he said "Well, with trips to the mainland for supplies and such, I'm thinking about a month. Depends on how quickly I can get my hands on the materials and get them back here. It's a lot of stuff that we're going to need. Support structure, wiring, plumbing, insulation, walls, flooring, carpet, furniture, and then on top of all that, I still need to figure out how to get us set for fresh water. That big lake we created by accident might do, if I can figure out how on earth to desalinate it. Fresh water was a problem I didn't think about, I'm sorry to say. We're going to be on bottled water for a while, sweetheart. I'm sorry about that."

Kali brushed her bangs out of her eyes, and with a trace of irritation, snapped "You know, that sounds like an awful lot of work for just two people. Are you sure we want to do this? We could just go to India or Australia, you know. We hide out in one of the big cities, and nobody will ever find us."

"If this doesn't work out, we'll do that. We'll even go back to New York, if that's what you really want."

Kali was left blinking at the tone of his voice. He sounded so tired. So defeated. Her darkening mood bled away, and she knew what his tone meant. He was on the verge of giving up entirely. Being on the run was draining him, and she knew it. He had already been on the run when she first met him, and he really was not built for that kind of life. Coming up behind him, she wrapped him in an embrace.

"So, a couple of hours in the sun to dry, huh?"

He nodded, his smile gone. The blank look he wore was scaring her.

"Baby, will you just please come and lay down with me for a few hours? You haven't slept in I don't even know how long. Just a few hours? Please?"

He heaved a long sigh, and nodded again. She pulled him back into the plane, and they lay down together on the pallet that Kali had made in the cargo bay. Reaching out with a tentacle, she clicked off the lights, and within minutes, heard Taylor snoring softly. Giving a soft sigh of relief, she draped her arms across her exhausted mate, and was soon joining him in sleep.

**UNDERSEA HYDRA BASE**

"Sir, you're not going to believe this."

Commander Zurman looked up from the reports he was reading, and glared at the young Hydra agent.

"This is important, I trust."

The agent nodded, practically quivering with excitement.

"Sir, that seismic event we detected last night? We've got the satellite photos of the area. There's an island there now. It would be perfect for our needs."

Perusing through the printed pictures, the commander noticed something.

"Is that a aircraft of some sort? Looks like a giant bat."

"Yes sir. It apparently arrived shortly after the island rose from the sea. It doesn't appear to be heavily crewed, and seems to be a private craft. One of our science people says he thinks it might be an Oscorp based design, but he's not sure."

Giving the matter a bit of thought, the commander smirked and said "Well, Oscorp is hardly a threat, and I see no reason not to make that island Hydra property. It would certainly be nice to get a breath of fresh air, not to mention the amount of travel time it would cut if we were to establish a base there. Well done, young man! Gather a team, and have them ready to leave in one hour. Hail Hydra!"

The agent saluted, and left the office, a bounce in his step.

**SHIELD HEADQUARTERS**

As Fury came into the main monitoring room, one of the agents called for his attention. Signaling another agent for a cup of coffee, Fury went to see what the young woman wanted.

"Whatcha got, Jenny?"

"Colonel, that Hydra base you've had me keeping an eye on? The one in the Carribean? We've got some kind of mobilization there. They're headed in the direction of that island that sprang up yesterday. That's not why I called you over, though. Get a load of this."

Punching a few keys, she pulled up a picture that made Fury give out with a ripe curse.

"I should have known that damned kid had a hand in that! Get the Avengers up here on the double! I want Stark and his team ready to go thirty seconds ago. Tell 'em to load heavy. Those things are trying to go to ground, and they're gonna fight all the harder. I want a team of agents ready to head off those Hydra bastards while the Avengers deal with the symbiotes."

**THE PLANE**

The first indication that something was wrong was the sound of someone pounding on the door of the plane. The two symbiotes awoke, bleary eyed and grumbling, and in Taylor's case, starving for energy. Forming some rather modest pajamas, slippers, and a bathrobe, he opened the hatch and took in a good dose of sunlight. It was a few seconds before he opened his eyes, and when he did, he was more than a little surprised at what he saw.

A statuesque redhead, an ape-like man with blue fur, and a tall man with a red visor were standing outside the plane. All of them wore black uniforms with a stylized x symbol. One Taylor was vaguely familiar with.

"I've seen that crest before. Xavier's School for the Gifted, isn't it?"

The man with the visor spoke with a clipped precision.

"Yes. I think you should follow us. In about thirty minutes, this island is going to be a war zone. Hydra on one side, and the Avengers on the other. I don't believe you want to be here for that."

Thinking about it for about two seconds, Taylor said "Okay. You got some coordinates for me?"

The visored man gave the coordinates for the school, and turned on his heel. As Taylor watched him go, he got a look at the transportation the group had arrived in, and grunted in appreciation. Soon, both planes were in the air, and headed for their destination.

Westchester, New York.

**THE X MANSION**

Kali was content to let Taylor fume on their way back to New York, but his angry silence was starting to grate on her nerves now that they had reached the mansion of their hosts. Finally having had enough of his black mood, she reached over and poked him in the ribs.

"Hey. You. Mr. Growls. What's with the vibes?"

Taking her hand and kissing the fingertip she poked him with, he replied "I don't know about this place. I had friends who were going to come here. I haven't seen any of them. Another thing, too. They work with mutants here, and that's cool, but what about our others? Taylor and Kali could fit in here, maybe, but what about Pagan and Nemesis?"

_Pagan and Nemesis are quite welcome here, young man._

Hearing a voice in his head that belonged to neither himself, nor his other, Taylor became Pagan and hissed menacingly at the bald man in the wheelchair who pulled into the office.

"Peace, young man. We mean you no harm here. I'm Professor Charles Xavier."

Retracting his other slowly into his denim and duster, Taylor sighed, looking rather sheepish.

"Sorry, Professor. Being on the run for so long is starting to make me paranoid."

"That's quite alright. I can assure you that you and your mate are quite safe here."

Kali, who had a thoughtful look on her face, gasped in realization.

"The X-men! The weather witch that took over the downtown tribe said she was a member of the X-men!"

From the doorway, a black woman with white hair said "That's me. I'm Ororo Munroe, but you can call me Storm."

As she came into the room, she was followed by a shorter man with a rough look to him. He sniffed the air like an animal, and scowled, obviously not liking what he smelled. Taylor eyed him suspiciously, and decided to see what his own nose would tell him. After a few sniffs, and a moment of confusion, he said "Why do you smell like metal?" The smaller man snarled, and growled out "Long story, kid. Why do you and your girlfriend smell like death?"

Taylor only blinked once, and then gave out with a snarl of his own.

"That's wife, not girlfriend."

"Don't see no ring."

"Don't see that it's any of your damned business, either."

Kali came over to Taylor, wrapping her arms around him. He calmed down instantly, his eyes closing in relief. She kissed him on the cheek, and whispered "You okay now?"

Keeping his eyes closed, he nodded.

"Yeah. Thanks. I think we're both in serious need of chocolate. I'll have to hit the grocery store soon. You're going to be getting the same way soon. Remember, our others need that chemical I mentioned. If you just shared some of yours with me, your depleting your own reserves of it."

"Gotta keep my man going somehow," she replied cheekily.

Taylor snorted, and opened his eyes. His face became neutral, and he turned away from the shorter man to face Xavier.

"Professor, becoming bonded to our others gives us all kinds of neat abilities, but we also have certain needs. Certain instincts that get harder to ignore as time goes on. One of those instincts is that of nesting. Nemesis is still too young for that, but Pagan is ready. We're going to be spawning again soon, and I doubt you want your students to be symbiotes like us. With your permission, I'd like to start building a hive structure. I can cloak it, power it, and ensure security isn't an issue. Once complete, even your students wouldn't know it's there. I can get the materials together on my own. All we need is the space to build."

Xavier smiled in amusement.

"It sounds as if you already have a plan in motion."

Taylor snorted again, this time in derision.

"Not much of one. I just want us somewhere safe. Somewhere where we can be at home, in peace, and not have to worry about looking over our shoulders all the damn time. Technically, I'm still a fugitive from the United States government. I have SHIELD and the Avengers after me, and I am really tired of making people the world calls heroes mad at me."

Xavier's amused expression faded, and he nodded to Storm and Logan, who nodded back and left the room. Taylor closed his eyes again, and leaned against Kali tiredly.

"You know he won't accept us being here. He'll argue it, rail about it, and eventually, he'll do something about it. Either he'll take off, or he'll attack us. He might even call our enemies, and I've made entirely too many of those. We are tired, Xavier. We are tired of being prey. Don't lie to us. Why did you rescue us from the island?"

The older man sat back in his wheelchair, and said quietly "Mr. Stevens, you and your mate are mutants. Your being hosts for alien symbiotes aside, you are still mutants and I've made it my life's work to help mutants whenever I can. I've actually been tracking you for some time, but it was only when you finally decided to go to ground that we were able to catch up with you. It was a bit of a race between myself and another mutant calling himself Magneto. I consider it the purest form of luck that my people were able to reach you first."

Taylor's eyes snapped open.

"Professor, I had some friends leave home and try to come here. They thought that if they could come here, they'd be safe. If it's alright with you, I'd like to talk to them. Get their opinion on things, so to speak. If we decide to stay, I need to know that this won't just be another prison. I need to know that I'm not going to be at the center of another lab experiment."

Kali, who had been rubbing Taylor's arms, joined the conversation.

"I just want to be able to build our life, and know it won't be taken away from us at the drop of a hat. So far, everything I've seen about upworlders with any authority shows me that we're going to be betrayed. Why should we trust you?"

"I am already taking a rather significant risk by bringing you here. As your husband has mentioned, you are fugitives. If anyone in the government tracks you here, I could well be facing criminal charges. However, I may have a solution to that."

Both symbiotes were staring intently at Xavier now. Seeing that he had their full attention, he continued.

"It seems that if you can talk to the President, and perhaps explain what's been happening to you, he might be able to help you."

Taylor thought it over, and then nodded.

"Okay. If you can get us in to see to President, then I guess we can stick around. I'm still of a mind to build a hive, though. You got some land we can use?"

Xavier's smile returned tenfold.

"As a matter of fact, I do."


	17. Chapter 17

**THE X MANSION (ONE WEEK LATER)**

Scott Summers was standing outside the skeletal structure of what appeared to be a geodesic dome, shaking his head in amazement. Kali stood beside him, looking a bit worried. Scott leaned slightly toward her, and half whispered "I can't believe he got so much built in just a week. This is incredible!"

Kali sighed.

"Yeah. Incredible. It's incredible if I can get him to take a break for more than ten minutes at a time. Ever since his power come out, he's turned into this total workaholic. He's so determined to build us a home, he's forgetting why he wanted it in the first place. He hardly sleeps or eats, and he's scared all the time. He's convinced that Fury is going to come after us at any minute, and then he pushes himself twice as hard. He's feeding from his energy collector so much now that he had to build another one to power his tools."

"Would you like me to talk to him?"

"Please. He's lost weight again, and he wasn't big before. He's starting to look like he did after the thing with that other symbiote, Plague. I'm scared for him, Scott."

Scott nodded, and said "Okay. Why don't you go on inside?"

As soon as she was away, Scott raised his glasses and carefully let out the force beams that made his bared gaze so deadly. Feeling the structure ring with vibration, Pagan looked down to see what had distracted him from his nest building. He swung down to stand over Scott on one of the metal beams, and then crawled down to hang from it by his feet. He was upside-down, but still looking Scott in the eyes.

"_**What do you want with us, Summers? We're busy."**_

"Busy doing what? Scaring your wife silly? She thinks you're losing it, you know. She's worried about you."

"_**Do not start with us, human. We are not going to be caught unprepared again. Once this nest is finished, we will be safe, and Nemesis will never have to be afraid again. We do this for her."**_

"For her, or for you? You seem to be more worried about being chased than she is."

"_**That is because she refuses to see the memories of our time in the government lab. What they did to us. What they will do to us again if we are caught. We doubt that Plague was the only one involved in that sort of research, and we have no intention of letting them get their hands on her. We would rather die than allow that. You are a married man, so you should understand this as well as we."**_

"I do. I also understand that your wife needs you to be there for her. Just because she knows that you love her doesn't mean she doesn't need a reminder every so often. You're scaring her."

Pagan reached up to turn right side up, and landed on the ground in front of Scott. Retracting his other into a Hawaiian shirt and jeans, Scott could see what Kali had been talking about. Taylor looked half dead. His eyes had black circles around them, and his cheekbones were very prominent. Scott winced at the younger man's appearance.

"You might want to consider getting something to eat while your at it. Something that didn't come out of a power socket, I mean. You look like a patch of bad road, man."

Taylor said nothing, but looked up at the sky. The sun was setting, and he felt weaker when the sun was down. Nodding tiredly, he rasped "Help me back to the house. I need to get to the energy collector in my plane. I need energy, or I won't be able to keep any food down."

With Scott's help, they got back to the mansion, but upon reaching the door, Taylor shoved him away.

"Get away! Can't you feel it?! I'm taking energy from you!"

Falling to his hands and knees, Taylor crawled over to the nearest lamp and pulled it down. Unscrewing the bulb, he stuck his finger in the socket and sighed in relief. Scott, who realized that where Taylor had been touching him was ice cold, stared in fascination. Professor Xavier wheeled himself in to see what the commotion was about, and found a much healthier looking Taylor lying on the floor with his fingers in a light socket.

"Are you going to be alright?"

Taylor, whose hollow appearance was filling out as they watched, chuckled mirthlessly.

"I'll be okay. I think I just blew your electricity budget for the month, though."

Releasing the lamp, he stood up. His skin was still pale, but his form was filled out, and he seemed much more hale. He screwed the bulb back in, and looked to Scott.

"Thanks. For the helping hand, as well as the advice. I guess I have been working too hard."

Heading for the hangar, Taylor stopped only long enough to give a friendly greeting to some of the younger students. It took little time for him to reach the plane, and then place his hand on the feeding console. Feeling the rush of energy, he once again sighed in relief. He sat down in the pilot's chair, and tried to think about his next move. Now that he was full of energy and thinking clearly, he realized that he had some serious apologies to make. Deciding it was time to face the music, he headed back upstairs.

He found Kali in their shared bedroom, or rather the bedroom they were supposed to be sharing. He had not been in for more than a few seconds at a time, and was now mentally kicking himself for being so stupid. She was standing at the bedroom window, and hugging herself tightly.

Sensing his presence through her other, Kali stiffened and said "What do you want?"

Wincing at the tone, Taylor sighed.

"A brain, for starters. Obviously, I'm missing one of my own. Maybe I _should_ let SHIELD take me in. Any man who could ignore you for as long as I have has to be criminally insane."

Kali turned to glance over her shoulder, and Taylor could see the tracks her tears had left on her cheeks.

"I'm sorry, baby. I am so sorry."

She came into his arms, crying openly now. Her sobs racked her whole frame, and Taylor swore to himself that he would never do anything like this to her again. He held her that way until she had cried herself out. He kissed her forehead, and whispered "Forgive me? Eventually?"

Sniffling, she replied "Eventually? You don't want me to forgive you now?"

Looking extremely rueful, he responded "Well, I figure you'll need some time to figure out whether I'm worth keeping around. We both know how dumb I can be. If you need time, you got it, sweetheart. I'll wait for you forever."

She blinked, and leaned away from him.

"You want me to leave you?"

"Hell no! I want you to tell me you love me, and take me to bed. I'm just trying to be realistic, here. I did something really stupid, and I don't expect you to forgive me for it right away. Let's face it, honey. If you can forgive me for this, you qualify for sainthood. I know I screwed up."

A thoughtful look crossed her face, and after a few moments, she said quietly "Taylor, stop talking, and take me to bed."

With those words ringing in his ears, Taylor Stevens decided to stop being stupid, and pay attention to his wife.

**THE WHITE HOUSE**

It had taken another two weeks to set up the appointment to see the President, and in that time, Taylor had made certain that his priorities were in proper order. The hive was nearly completed, thanks to help from the students at the school, and all that was left was to attach the new energy collector to the top and then furnish the inside. Once that was done, they would be fairly self sufficient.

Kali looked fairly calm in her human guise, and Taylor hoped he looked even half as calm. On the inside, he was a bundle of nervous energy. Professor Xavier came back into the room, followed by two men in SHIELD uniforms. Taylor bolted up from his seat, and came into a fighting stance. Xavier hurried to calm him.

"It's alright. They're only here to escort you to the President. That's all. Just calm down, Taylor. It's going to be alright."

Taking a deep breath, Taylor once again tried to let go of his nervousness. With Kali right behind him, he followed the men into the Oval Office. It was enough to put his heart in his throat when he saw Nick Fury standing next to the President's desk, looking like he would rather be anywhere else.

"Mr. Stevens, I believe we have some talking to do."

Focusing on the man sitting behind the desk, Taylor stood a little straighter.

"Yes, Mr. President, I believe we do."

**THE SYMBIOTE HABITAT**

Taylor stood over the stove, stirring a pot of noodles. Every so often, his eyes would trail over to a certain picture frame on the wall. Contained within the frame was not a picture, however, but a signed document absolving Taylor of any wrongdoing in the continental United States. A presidential pardon that Fury was ordered to give to Taylor right there in the Oval Office. Fury had not looked happy when he swallowed that order.

Kali came into the kitchen, a book in her hands. Now that she didn't have to worry about being hunted anymore, she had decided to further her education. Her high school career had been cut short by her mutation manifesting, and she was doing her utmost to make up for it. She was still reading as she walked past Taylor, planting a quick kiss on his cheek. He smiled at her, and said "Dinner's almost ready. How's your homework coming?"

"Almost done. Two more pages, and then I can write that report. I can't believe I have to write a book report on A Wind in the Willows."

Pouring out the excess water, and then stirring in the beef and sauce, Taylor set the mixture to simmer, and then took his wife in his arms.

"It could have been worse, you know. It could have been Alice in Wonderland. It ought to be against the law to have to write a report about anything that insane."

She giggled, and kissed him again, this time in a more thorough fashion. When they finally came up for air, she asked "Are you working tonight?"

"Only for a little while. Toxin asked me to back him up with some drug dealers that are trying to move in on the old neighborhood. You wanna come? Those guys are gonna freak if they see Toxin show up, but imagine their faces if they see Pagan and Nemesis show up with him! Heart attack time!"

Kali smirked knowingly, but then sighed and said "I can't. I promised Dr. McCoy I'd finish this book report tonight. No reason you can't have fun though."

Taylor sighed contentedly. It was still hard for him to believe that it had only been six months since he and Kali had been pardoned. Plague, however, had garnered a less forgiving fate. In an attempt to free himself from his prison, he had inadvertently triggered the fire suppression system in his cell. He suffocated in the halon filled cell before anyone could free him, and the symbiote died with him. Taylor was not sorry to see him go.

Casting his eyes downward, Taylor's thoughts turned to his offspring. They were all resting quite comfortably in a burrow below the dome floor. Eventually, they would be mature enough to seek out a host of their own, but until that time, they would stay in their burrow. By then, Taylor figured he could find people worthy of being hosts for his children. Nemesis was nearing her time, and would soon be adding her own offspring to the brood. They would have quite a colony before long, and then Taylor could then make his pitch to Fury about retaking a certain island from Hydra.

Yes, things were definitely looking up.

The End... For now

finished 1:21pm on June 29, 2009


End file.
